“Fire him right now” – Fans left UNIMPRESSED with Flyers’ coach John Tortorella’s healthy scratch decision regarding rookie sensation Matvei Michkov

Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella healthy scratched youngster Matvei Michkov from the lineup before the game against the Lightning.

“Fire him right now” – Fans left UNIMPRESSED with Flyers’ coach John Tortorella’s healthy scratch decision regarding rookie sensation Matvei Michkov

John Tortorella (L) and Matvei Michkov (C) [Image via Washington Hockey Now/NBC Sports Philadelphia]

Philadelphia Flyers’ coach John Tortorella has never been afraid to make bold moves. Last season, he shocked the NHL world by healthy-scratching captain Sean Couturier from the lineup. On Thursday, he did something just like that by healthy-scratching rookie sensation Matvei Michkov against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The 19-year-old right winger has wowed the fans with his performance in the early stages of the 2024-25 season. In 13 games he has played, he has scored four goals and assisted six times, equaling his points tally to ten.

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However, the young forward’s production has fallen off a little bit in the past few games. After recording nine points in the first eight games, he has only managed one point in the last five matches.

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As a result of this, his time has also taken a hit. After reaching a high of 21:54 in the fourth game of the season, his ice time fell to just 13:57 in the most recent game on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

When asked about his decision on Thursday, the 66-year-old labeled it as “part of the process“.

It’s just part of the process. With young guys, they can watch games too as far as development. So, uh, it’s trying to help them.

John Tortorella said in a media conference

It now remains to be seen how the decision of Tortorella works out in favor of Michkov in the upcoming games.

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Fans lash out at John Tortorella’s decision

As soon as the news regarding the lineup changes came out, fans were left stunned by the decision of John Tortorella. Despite explaining this to the media and calling it a part of the process, social media users were left unimpressed with the head coach.

John Tortorella
John Tortorella (Image via The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Fans on X slammed the veteran coach as many of them sided with their youngster. Some users even urged for the removal of the coach with one fan writing, “Fire him right now“.

Check out some of the top reactions regarding this development from X below:

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While the fans may not have liked the decision of Tortorella, his move ultimately paid off. The Philadelphia-based outfit came away as 2-1 winners against Lightning through a shootout and improved their season standings to 5-8-1.