Flyers Will Use Matvei Michkov’s ‘Best Friend’ Even More in 2024-25

Nicolas Deslauriers, or Matvei Michkov’s new “best friend,” as general manager Danny Briere called him, will be a key player for the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2024-25 season.

Deslauriers is generally considered to have lost his role as a regular in the Flyers’ lineup last season, though the 6-foot-1 slugger still managed to play in 60 regular season games. The Flyers were, perhaps unsurprisingly, more successful in the 60 games that Deslauriers played in than the 22 games he didn’t, and that’s something John Tortorella and the rest of the coaching staff will have to lean into more heavily next season.

For reference, the Flyers were 29-22-9 with Deslauriers in the lineup in 2023-24 and only 9-11-2 without him, per Statmuse. Philadelphia earned a point in 38 of Deslauriers’ 60 games, which means they picked up a point 63% of the time he was in the lineup. In the 22 games without him, that number drops to only 50%.

The 33-year-old scored only one goal, four assists, and five points last year, so it wasn’t as if Deslauriers’ individual play was the reason the Flyers were playing much better. But, for whatever reason, the Flyers were indeed playing much better as a team with the well-respected tough guy on the ice backing them up.

Plus, Deslauriers’ average ice time of 8:09 was his lowest in a season since 2016-17, when he averaged just 7:25 as a member of the Buffalo Sabres.

Conversely, Deslauriers has averaged north of 10 minutes a game in each of the last four seasons before this one. In 2024-25, we can expect that trend to resume now that Michkov is in the fold.

In an interview with Philly Hockey Now earlier in the offseason, Briere raved about Deslauriers’ character and leadership and, drawing back to his own experiences as a player, explained how a player like Nick can give his teammates more confidence on the ice.

“You don’t have to worry about being taken advantage of on the ice because Nick is sitting on the bench, ready to jump on and protect you,” Briere said. “I know, as a player, I really appreciated those players.”

“Knowing that Nick is on the bench if something goes south, he can come in and take care of things, I think it goes a long way, especially early in the season, for our players. . . Play well, play a little bit bigger and taller, because you know you have a guy like that backing you up.”

Further to Briere’s points, the Flyers were generally lucky with injuries at the forward position last season, as Noah Cates was the only player to miss significant time through injury.

Combine the likely regression to the mean with the fact that the Flyers will need to keep an extra eye on the 5-foot-10 Michkov, and it’s looking increasingly likely that Deslauriers matches or surpasses his 60 games played in 2023-24, not the other way around.

In a Metropolitan Division that includes players like Matt Rempe, Jacob Trouba, Mathieu Olivier, Kurtis MacDermid, Brendan Lemieux, Tom Wilson, and others, Deslauriers’ presence on the Flyers means more now than it did in his previous two years donning the Orange and Black.

Expect to see a heavy dose of the 11-year NHL veteran deputizing the ice in the 2024-25 season.