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19-year-old Philadelphia Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov has been off to a decent start with his NHL career, but there will be ups and downs and some growing pains throughout the process, and that could be why head coach John Tortorella has decided to healthy scratch him for Thursday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

I know… it’s not what I wanted to see either…

Hey, Tortorella has been at this a long time, perhaps he has his reasons.

“Just part of the process,” he said, per TSN. “We’re trying to help him.”

Uh… so catching a game from the press box while slamming chicken tenders is supposed to help him? 

This news actually comes two days after the Flyers benched Michkov for portions of their last two games; a 2-1 win over St. Louis a week ago and again in their 6-4 loss to the Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Oddly enough, in that loss to the Canes, Michkov snapped a 4-game pointless streak with an assist. He had opened the season with nine points in 8 games.

But in that time, he was still named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for October.

Benching Matvei Michkov when he was just named the NHL Rookie of the Month and is second on the team in scoring is an odd choice for the Philadelphia Flyers, but will it help him?. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

So, sure, his play has cooled off a little bit, but, it’s tough to re-find a groove when you’re not in the lineup.

Well, we’ll see how it works out.

While fans certainly aren’t happy about Michkov’s benching and healthy-scratching, there’s going to be a reason for it. The Flyers have made it clear that they’re not going to rush his or the team’s development, and this would appear to be proof.

Michkov’s earlier-than-expected arrival after being the steal of the 2023 NHL Draft at seventh overall was the highlight of the Flyers‘ offseason. However, it’s been a rocky start for the team with offensive production being spotty and goaltending behind start Sam Erssson — who is currently out with an injury — being unreliable.