Tortorella scratches Calder Trophy front-runner Michkov

Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella is sending a message to Matvei Michkov despite how well the phenom has started his NHL career.

Michkov is a healthy scratch for Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, while forward Anthony Richard is making his Flyers debut.

"It's part of the process," Tortorella told reporters after repeating the phrase numerous times. "I told you guys. With young guys, they can watch games too, as far as development. So it's trying to help them."

The NHL named Michkov its rookie of the month for October. He came into Thursday tied for the lead among the class in both goals (four) and points (10) through 13 games. However, he's scored three of his tallies and posted seven of his points on the power play.

Tortorella benched the Russian winger for the latter half of the third period - aside from a brief appearance with the man advantage - during a 6-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Michkov averaged 19:15 of ice time and topped the 21-minute mark three times over his first nine contests. However, he's logged just 14:41 per game over his last four.

Tortorella explained his approach to Michkov's progress last Thursday after playing him for 13:56 in a win over the St. Louis Blues.

"I just wanted him to sit (on the bench), relax, (and) think about what I said to him," the head coach said, per The Athletic's Kevin Kurz. "I think it was two or three rotations, we put him back out there. He may miss games, who knows? I don't know what's going to happen. But that’s part of the development of a 19-year-old kid."

Michkov, who turns 20 on Dec. 9, notched 19 goals and 22 assists across 47 games with Sochi in the KHL last season.

The Flyers drafted him seventh overall last year.