Philadelphia Flyers: Do not sleep on Travis Konecny

After a quiet postseason, the excitement surrounding Philadelphia Flyers winger Travis Konecny has cooled down a bit.

This past season was a great one for Travis Konecny. The Philadelphia Flyers forward enjoyed a career year of sorts, as he matched his career high in goals (24) while also producing a career high in assists (37) and points (61), all the while playing in 12 fewer games due to the COVID-19 stoppage. Pair this with the fact that he is only 23 years old, and there certainly is a lot to like about the young winger.

Unfortunately, this success did not carry into the post-season; as Konecny was flat out awful in his first extending playoff run. Zero goals and seven assists were the results through 16 games for the young player; an incredibly large drop off from his stellar regular season. Not to say he was the main reason the orange and black got bounced in the second round (I would lean towards the Power Play for this), but he certainly played a part.

With that said, it was not a normal playoff season for Konecny, or for anybody in the NHL, for that matter. Having a four+ month layoff before being thrust back into playoff hockey can not be easy.

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Of course, there were some players who were relatively unphased, but not every player is built the same. The narrative surrounding Konecny should not be strictly negative due to struggles this past summer. That is not to say it is not something that we shouldn’t keep an eye on, but are we really going to value a 16 game sample size as opposed to the 66 games he played during the regular season? I get it was the playoffs, but come on.

The key for Konecny this year may be to continue to develop his two-way game, which was a huge reason he saw his production take a big leap last season. The offensive skill has always been there. This is why he was a first round pick and enjoyed back to back 24 goal seasons before again matching that number this past year. However, it was his dedication to the defensive side of the game that allowed Alain Vigneault to trust him and play him deeper into games, which in turn opened up more ice time for the vocal winger. To put this into perspective, Konecny saw his average ice time increase from 15:16 per night in 2018-19 to 16:48 in 2019-2020. An increase of 1:32 per game; roughly three to four more shifts per night. Not too shabby.

In years past, Dave Hakstol and interim coach Scott Gordon had planted Travis Konecny on the bench late in games or after he had made a mistake on the ice. Yes, there is some sense to that kind of coaching; but considering the Flyers were a team still trying to find its way, it really doesn’t make any sense at all. I think I speak for Flyer fans everywhere when I say thank goodness those days are gone.

As we gear up for the upcoming Philadelphia Flyers season, it is safe to say all eyes will be on number 11. His ability to take another step forward this year could be monumental in the orange and black taking another step forward as a team. Yes, last year was a good one; but what that equates to is higher expectations. Now, it is up to Travis Konecny to answer the call.