The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are around the corner, so let’s talk about Flyers rookies! This isn’t a Roster Outlook but more of a breakdown of the Flyers young guns. Philly brought in Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov this season to provide the team with some more offense and hopefully defense. For this article and the next, I will be breaking down these two rookies and seeing what they brought to this team. First up is Travis Konecny!
Travis “TK” Konecny was drafted 24th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2015. This was one of the strongest drafts in NHL history. I knew a lot about every prospect that year and Philly had two 1st round picks that year, which made it more exciting. Philly owned the 7th and 29th overall picks in the 1st round, selecting Provorov with the 7th, there was some speculation with who they grabbed with the 29th.
There was still a ton of great players up for grabs, players like Konecny. A small but fast and skilled playmaker who was passed by due to his size. Sitting a 5’10, Konecny captained the Ottawa 67s racking up 29 goals before the draft. A year later after the draft he was traded to the Sarina Sting mid-season setting a career high of 30 goals.
Philly traded their 29th overall and a 2nd rounder to Toronto for the 24th overall to take Travis Konecny. What makes Flyers fans laugh a lot is that the Boston Bruins had the 13th, 14th, and 15th overall picks. They had a chance to grab TK three times! They decided to grab three players that might turn out to be busts and have yet to play and NHL game.
After Konecny was drafted and the pre-season came along, many fans wondered if he would make the roster that year. The Flyers said no and sent him back to the OHL to develop. What a great decision that was since he lead the OHL in points with 102. Remember that Boston passed on him THREE times!
Now comes the 2016-17 season. Konecny is NHL ready and Philly could really use his speed and playmaking ability. Man, this kid can skate. He’s no Connor McDavid but when he hits open ice, nobody is catching him. He and Provy made the roster right out camp which was obvious since they were the best NHL ready prospects Philly had. Konecny was put on a line with Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek. I would be frightened if I was on the ice with that line out there.
It took 7 games before he would score his first NHL goal but when he did, I’m sure Philly lost it. It wasn’t a pretty goal but it was a goal and that’s all that matters. As of March 10, 2017, TK only has 8 goals, 16 assists for 24 points which isn’t great. His playmaking ability makes up for it but apparently, Hakstol doesn’t this the same.
Konecny has been scratched twice this year. I don’t know what kind of “learning experience” this is but Hakstol, you can’t scratch one of the best players on the team. Philly was playing Montreal that night when Hak decided to sit both TK and Ghost. Two of the fastest and best playmakers on the team. The Flyers lost that game due to being out skated, funny how that works.
Either way Travis Konecny is the future of the Flyers offense and will most defiantly take out 1st line center down the road. He will probably be named captain as well and he has been compared to current Flyers captain Claude Giroux. Coincidence? I think not. I think it was all planned from that start.
