For the most part, Riley Armstrong understands what Matvei Michkov is trying to communicate. He can only assume, and hope, that that’s true when he texts the Flyers’ top prospect, too.

Michkov, of course, is the gifted scorer that the Flyers drafted seventh overall at NHL draft in June. The 18-year-old plays for the KHL’s HC Sochi in Russia, to which the U.S. State Department advises against traveling. Flyers scout Ken Hoodikov is based there, but Armstrong operates out of North America, and as the Flyers’ director of player development is tasked with keeping tabs on all of the team’s prospects.

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So, texting with Google Translate is really the only option.

“It’s actually quite comical because I know my English when I switch it into Russian isn’t what I’m saying,” Armstrong said. “He’s probably thinking, ‘What is this guy saying?’ Then on the flip side, (his text) comes to me and it’s like broken English, too. So you’re trying to piece that together. I always have a good chuckle about it. I think it’s really cool just being in contact with him, just making sure that he’s doing OK.”

And Michkov does seem to be doing OK. Through 25 games with Sochi, he has 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points, second on his team in scoring. Further, his highlights suggest that, yeah, this kid can score goals in a number of different ways. The excitement that Flyers fans already have for the kid is palpable on social media.

Michkov’s second goal of the game and it’s a nasty one 🤢

— Nasty Knuckles (@NastyKnuckles) August 10, 2023

Armstrong, Flyers general manager Danny Briere, president of hockey operations Keith Jones, and many others in the organization watch the streams of Michkov’s KHL games as much as they can. It’s helpful that they usually start around noon, Philly time. And although it could be several more years before Michkov is able to come to North America due to his KHL contract, Armstrong is already thinking ahead to what the forward will have to do to make the transition as seamless as possible.

“In the KHL, if you watch it, there’s lots of looping and swinging, and speed. So it’s like, OK, knowing that, I already know a couple of things that we’re going to have to work on with Michkov to get him ready to play the North American style of game,” Armstrong said.

It’s that intimate knowledge of the KHL, and other leagues, that prompted Briere to move Armstrong into the front office in the offseason, from an assistant coach with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to a vitally important role overseeing the Flyers’ prospect pool. Armstrong’s resume reflects his vast experience playing in leagues all over North America and Europe, including Russia, Germany, Finland and Sweden, as well as the NHL (two games with the San Jose Sharks in 2008-09), AHL, ECHL and WHL, where he spent two seasons as a junior before turning pro. The younger brother of former NHL forward Colby Armstrong, he was hired and worked with Briere with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners.

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The Flyers’ rebuild won’t work without at least some of the players in the system (and others who haven’t been drafted yet) developing into NHL-level talent. That much is obvious. What’s less obvious is how much Briere and Jones have done to try and help further that goal. They put their stamp on the front office fairly quickly after both were given their current titles, and identified player development as an area that needed an overhaul. Armstrong, Alyn Macauley (assistant GM) and Nick Schultz (assistant director of player development) received promotions, while Kjell Samuelsson, John Riley and Mike O’Connell were let go. There were some other staff alterations further down the ladder.

In September, Jones said that the moves were made because of “years watching multiple players arrive at the National Hockey League level, and level off within 10 games, and then go back to the minors and then come back and be the exact same player. We don’t want that.”

How will they prevent that moving forward? It’s the age-old question for any NHL front office.

“Unfortunately, there’s no perfect answer,” said Briere, in a recent sit-down interview with The Athletic in San Jose, Calif. “Everybody is different and they develop at a different pace. And that’s the toughest part for us to figure out.”

Owen McLaughlin is a center selected by the Flyers in the seventh round of the 2021 draft. The native of Spring City, PA — about 35 miles from Philadelphia — is currently in his second year at the University of North Dakota, where he’s managed 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists) in his first 11 games.

Armstrong is impressed with the 20-year-old’s game, saying he “holds onto the puck, makes plays, and slows it down.”

John LeClair, the former Flyers left wing hired as a special advisor to the hockey operations department over the summer, has seen McLaughlin, too. And, according to Armstrong, LeClair views McLaughlin through a different lens.

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“(LeClair) sees the game more from a power forward standpoint. And he’s like, I want to see him engage more, and driving pucks into these areas. So now I understand what John is seeing, and now we need to talk to Owen and try and round his whole game out, and make him a complete player,” Armstrong said.

That’s just one example of the Flyers trying to get as many eyes on their prospects in the system — and those who are eligible to be a part of future drafts — as possible.

Brent Flahr, the assistant general manager, said “there’s a little bit more of a hands-on approach” to their player development now than previously. The staff also includes former NHL players Samuel Morin and Chris Stewart, longtime Flyers forward Sami Kapanen in Europe, Brady Robinson (goaltender development), and special advisors LeClair and Patrick Sharp.

“We explain to (the prospects) what we expect of them, things they need to work on, goals in the offseason. It’s up to them and take it from there,” Flahr said. “We can go watch them play, and give them feedback. Talk to their coaching staff and strength coaches. We have the resources now, and a good group of guys who all played and have experience with the American League and junior hockey and college that they can relate to these guys.”

While Michkov may be tough to get to, another high-end prospect, Cutter Gauthier, is much more accessible. The fifth pick in the 2022 draft is in his second year at Boston College, and has 11 goals in his first 12 games. The 19-year-old has a steady flow of visitors from the organization, including Sharp. The three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Blackhawks who began his career with the Flyers also makes it a point to stop by Boston University, where Devin Kaplan, a third-round pick in 2022 plays, and Northeastern, where 2022 sixth-round pick Hunter McDonald is currently a student-athlete.

“Every weekend we have a Flyer member in a building when those guys are playing,” Armstrong said.

It makes sense for Sharp and LeClair to visit with the college kids. Sharp spent two seasons at the University of Vermont before turning pro, while LeClair played four seasons there, too. It took both of them some time to develop and make an impact at the NHL level.

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“They can talk with these guys about some of the growing pains, when things are going well, and relate to these guys,” Flahr said.

But there’s more to it, particularly with the college players, who can become unrestricted free agents after four years no matter which team drafts them.

The Flyers want to demonstrate to their prospects that there’s no better place for them to begin their NHL careers than in Philadelphia. They want all of them, college or otherwise, to know that they have their best interests in mind both as players and as young men.

“It’s our job to now recruit these kids in junior hockey and college hockey to be like, Philadelphia is the best place to play hockey,” Armstrong said. “We have great facilities, all of our staff, our management — everybody is on the same page. … And then we show them love. We have so many player development guys, we have guys out every weekend visiting kids. I’ve talked to parents and other kids that are like, ‘Oh, geez, you’re here again.’”

And when they aren’t there in person, they are still proactively showing their support. When 2023 first-round pick Oliver Bonk scored his long-awaited first goal of the season playing for the OHL’s London Knights recently, he had more than one message on his phone from the Flyers’ staffers.

“He was gripping his stick a little tight, so we’re all giving him fist pumps, just texting him as a group,” Armstrong said. “Just little things like that, that make the kid feel like, they still like me, and I’m still a part of it. Just showing them that we care.”

It’s a common cry from a fan base of any team that is in the midst of a rebuild, or even a team that believes there are too many veteran players past their prime on the roster:

Play the kids. Get them experience in the NHL. Let’s find out if they’re the real deal.

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Doesn’t always work that way.

“Understanding the pro game,” Briere said, “you need to have guys that, when we say pro, they prepare the right way. They act the right way. They take care of themselves. They know how to manage certain…not just games, but situations off the ice, as well.”

That requires a fair amount of nurturing from those in charge of player development. Some players need more of it than others.

“Off the ice, obviously the strength and conditioning, that stuff is the easy stuff,” Flahr said. “A lot of it too is understanding what it takes to be a pro, and that’s what (the player development staff) can help them with — how they eat, how they train, how they sleep. They’re young guys, they’re going to go out and do some things, but when do you do that and when do you not? In some cases they’re immature. Some kids there’s zero maintenance and they’re pros when they show up.”

Armstrong learned the importance of that off-ice maturity at a young age playing for the AHL’s Worcester Sharks. An unheralded seventh-round pick who couldn’t skate very well showed up in 2006, and, as it turns out, that guy is still playing today, recently eclipsing 1,000 points in the NHL.

“I saw when (Dallas Stars forward) Joe Pavelski came to the Worcester Sharks, was how detailed he was away from the rink,” Armstrong said. “At his age, coming in…we have an off day, Joe was in the gym riding the bike. Joe was in the cold tub. Then the hot tub. I learned more from Joe than I did from some older guys, and Joe was a rookie. Those were the areas that you look at it and you’re like, I’m not even surprised Joe did what he did.”

Most seventh-round picks, or even first-round picks, aren’t going to turn into Joe Pavelski. But Armstrong can identify those building blocks that someone like Pavelski put in place at a young age to eventually reach the heights that he has.

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“It’s how they conduct themselves. Are they part of the community? Are they eating properly, taking care of themselves away from the rink and doing their treatment? Are they ready to go to the NHL or are they still immature in that sense, as well?” Armstrong said.

Already, there are young prospects being integrated into the Flyers’ lineup. Bobby Brink, a second-round pick in 2019, and Tyson Foerster, a first-round pick in 2020 (23rd overall), forced their way onto the opening night roster. Although that doesn’t mean they’re in the show for good — Brink was a healthy scratch for three straight games before returning on Sunday, while Foerster only scored his first goal of the season on Saturday against Vegas — the staff felt it was the best thing for them at this stage of their respective careers.

“We had a good feeling that Tyson was ready to play,” Briere said. “But he earned it, it wasn’t given to him. If he unearned it at camp, he would have been in the minors to keep developing. Bobby Brink, he showed us that he was ready to play immediately. We feel for his development it was better because he was making an impact here already.

“If that changes we’ll reevaluate and we’ll keep an eye on it, but they’ve earned their chance to be here. They didn’t steal it. … I think it’s great for the future when you see guys taking a step even quicker than you expected.”

The hope, of course, is that more young players and prospects are integrated as they move along. The Flyers will potentially have two picks in each of the first two rounds of the 2024 draft, and there’s little chance they’re going to deal any of those picks or young assets unless they believe it’s for something that will help them further down the line.

Briere is encouraged that the Flyers have looked like a hard-working, competitive team throughout the first month of the season. They are no longer a lock to finish in last place in the Metropolitan Division, where so many had them pegged before the season began. In fact, at 10-7-1 and the winners of five in a row now, they might even hang around the playoff chase in what looks to be the most wide-open division in the NHL.

But the plan to stockpile more assets without rushing any younger players won’t change, no matter what the standings look like in a few months.

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“If we have a chance to make the playoffs I think that’s great, and I’m not going to hinder that,” Briere said. “But at the same time..we’re going to make the decisions that are best for the future of the organization. Not just get stuck in the moment.

“What does that mean? I don’t know yet. We have to keep in mind too that (we) might have some ideas of what we want to do, but you need a partner to dance with when it comes to assets. … I keep the door open, I keep looking around, I have discussions with a lot of different GMs. It doesn’t mean anything is going to happen. I really don’t know. We’re adjusting as we go along here.”

Regardless of how many and who else is eventually added to the prospect pool, making sure at least some of those players become productive NHL players will ultimately determine whether the “New Era of Orange” ends up being successful, or not.

For his part, Briere is confident the correct pieces in the front office are in place, and he’s upbeat about the state of the system, too.

“It’s a lot of hope for us,” Briere said. “Hopefully it’s a lot of hope for our fans, too.”

(Top photo of Daniel Briere, Matvei Michkov and Keith Jones: Danny Murphy / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)