Flyers All-Star: Travis Konecny
In the offseason, Travis Konecny signed his big-ticket, a $33 million contract good through the 2025 season.
This seemed like a pretty solid contract for a guy with 47 and 49 points in the last two seasons, but his play is already making this deal look like quite a steal through the first half of this season.
Through his first 40 games thus far, he has found the net 13 times along with 24 assists(one short of his season-high of 25 already). At almost a point per game with 37 points, he is being sent to represent the Flyers at the All-Star game in St. Louis later this month.
So since he is already only 12 points shy of his career-high for a season just after the new year, how has this breakout season occurred for TK? He has completely solidified himself as the first line right winger, spending most of the season with Couturier and Giroux. The other addition is a much higher usage of the powerplay. He has already notched 11 assists with the man advantage, which is more than the 7 he has gotten in his past 3 years combined. He has kept up his stellar shooting percentage around 13.5%, in which he has averaged the last 3 seasons as well, putting him in the same level as prolific sniper Steven Stamkos this season.
The other area of his game that Konecny has progressed in is his 5v5 performance. His Corsi rating is a great rating of 57.4, meaning the Flyers get way more shots off than the opposing team when he’s on the ice. Out of all players in the league with at least 5 games played, he’s ranked in the top 20 for points produced per 60. This is putting him in the same realm as prolific stars such as Patrice Bergeron and Mark Scheifele.
Besides his ability to create a room with his speed and quick hands, he knows how to be scrappy and be living rent-free in the heads of his opponents. He has a great shot that goaltenders need to prepare for, but is also using this as an advantage to dish the puck off at the last second for some great plays.
If Konecny keeps this pace up, he will end up with 26 goals and 73 points this season. Keep in mind that he won’t be turning 23 until March, and he’s on the books for only $5.5 million a year until he’s 28.
The Konecny deal could end up being one of GM Chuck Fletcher’s best deals he will ever make.
Expect this to not be Konecny’s only All-Star appearance.
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