Flyers GM Briere: Michkov, agent never requested trade

Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere denied a report about forward Matvei Michkov’s alleged desire to leave the city of brotherly love during a news conference Wednesday.

Briere spoke with reporters while he traveled with the Flyers for their game Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers. Hours before puck drop, the GM said neither Michkov nor his agent had reached out to management about a possible trade.

“No, that’s the disappointing part. The report was not correct,” he said. “Matvei said it wasn’t from him. He never said anything about that. He doesn’t know where it came from, who it was from, and we also spoke to his agent and he swears that it wasn’t from him, either.

Read more: Which teams would be a good fit for Matvei Michkov?

“I don’t know what else to tell you guys,” he continued. “It’s really easy to just make up anything you want. It’s unfortunate, but this is the stuff, I guess, we have to deal with nowadays.”

ESPN hockey insider Kevin Weekes reported Tuesday that Michkov “would likely want a new start elsewhere.” However, Sportsnet’s Frank Seravalli reported Wednesday that Briere has no plans of trading him.

“This is all news to me … we’ve never discussed that.” Briere told Seravalli. “He’s got so much ahead of him that we’re all really excited about. He’s going in the right direction and it’s exciting to see what he can do already.”

Going into Wednesday’s game, Michkov has 10 goals and four assists for 14 points, averaging 15:54 of ice time in 20 games in 2026-27. Now in his third NHL season, the 21-year-old Russian winger has 56 goals and 72 assists for 128 points in 181 career regular-season games.

During his rookie campaign in 2024-25, he had 26 goals and 37 assists for 63 points and was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie team. He finished fourth in Calder Trophy voting.

You can watch the full press conference here…