Philadelphia Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet is open to the idea of trying newly acquired forward Trevor Zegras and phenom winger Matvei Michkov on the same line.
"We'd be idiots not to explore it and talk about it, and try to manifest it where it can work," Tocchet told The Athletic's Kevin Kurz. "Can it work? I don't know."
Michkov and Zegras are both puck-dominant players with some defensive warts in their games. But given their combined skill level, it's possible they would create offensive magic together.
Zegras bounced between center and wing over the last couple of injury-riddled seasons. Tocchet said he plans to give him an opportunity to stick down the middle.
"I definitely think it's our obligation to see if he can play center," Tocchet said. "He really wants to give it a shot. … He's talented making a play off his forehand or backhand, and those guys are hard to find.
"He shared a couple things with me that he was pretty honest about, where he had struggles in boxing out guys down low, and things that he wanted to work on. I thought that was really mature from him. So there's some things that I can really help him (with) in being a center. We'll see how it goes. But, yeah, I'd like to definitely give him a shot up the middle."
The Flyers are relatively thin at center, with Sean Couturier, Noah Cates, and Rodrigo Abols representing their choices beyond Zegras.
Philadelphia is deeper on the wing, with leading scorer Travis Konecny, Michkov, Owen Tippett, and Tyson Foerster among its top options. Michkov, 20, finished fourth in Calder Trophy voting this past season after compiling 63 points in 80 games.
Zegras, the 2019 No. 9 pick, rattled off back-to-back 60-point campaigns in 2021-22 and 2022-23, finishing as the Calder Trophy runner-up in the former. The 24-year-old's managed just 47 points over 88 games in the two seasons since.
The Flyers acquired Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks on Monday. Tocchet enters the organization with a fresh perspective after leaving his position as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks to join Philadelphia.
