2023-24 Flyers Season Preview: Travis Sanheim

Have you ever contemplated what it would look like to gain 15 pounds in only a few short months? Perhaps many of us have gained 15 pounds inadvertently, resulting from balanced diets of beer and chicken parm. For Travis Sanheim, the biggest news of the offseason was his time spent in the weight room. The 27-year-old defensemen indeed put on a whopping 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason, measuring in at a lean 6\'3\" 200 lbs. To be clear, 200 pounds isn\'t really that big for someone as tall as Sanheim, so he likely could have used the added calories. Still, Sanheim\'s offseason work is impressive, and it shows that he is lobbying for the title of Philadelphia\'s top defenseman.

Speaking of \"huge\", Sanheim is also entering the first year of the eight-year, $50 million contract extension that he signed immediately prior to last season. Those are a lot of dollars, and with a lot of dollars comes a lot of expectations. Let\'s look at last year\'s numbers.

2022-23 Rundown

Games Played Goals Assists Points 5v5 CF% 5v5 xGF% 81 (lolz) 7 16 23 46.95% 46.02%

stats via Natural Stat Trick

What did we see from Sanheim last season?

To be quite honest, Sanheim is an extremely confusing player. For several years he has been highly regarded as the one of the better young defensemen on the Flyers\' roster, despite not being even remotely young in hockey terms. Sanheim was simply stuck behind the \"more experienced\" players like Keith Yandle, Matt Niskanen, Justin Braun, and even Shayne Gostisbehere. Sanheim was also overshadowed by Ivan Provorov who frequently exhibited a more flashy and offensively driven playing style.

So what on earth were we supposed to think of Sanheim? Were we supposed to tout his high level of defensive acuity and skill, or were we supposed to deduce that he just wasn\'t fit to be an all star defenseman in this organization?

Sanheim, himself, didn\'t help to clear up the confusion. At times, he was just so, so good in the defensive zone, and it truly felt like he was the only hope for the Flyers\' defensive corps. Yet, other times, he gave fans reason to scratch their heads, wondering what on earth happened to the player who was formerly a stable presence on the blue line. Last year was the same roller coaster ride. No doubt, Sanheim was one of the few bright spots in the lineup, but he also had his lows, getting infamously scratched in front of his family. His stat line really wasn\'t that bad, all things considered, and he\'s certainly more likable than Rasmus Ristolainen; but, it\'s hard to say that he emerged as a leader in any significant way.

What type of role do we expect Sanheim to play this season?

Filling a roster spot is different from filling a role. Travis Sanheim almost certainly wants to fill the void left in Ivan Provorov\'s wake, and he likely will; however, we shouldn\'t expect Sanheim to fill Provorov\'s role. Provorov was a crafty stickhandler, a speedster who could jump up into offensive counter attacks. Sanheim simply won\'t be that guy, so we shouldn\'t be disappointed when Sanheim finishes the year with around 25 points. Perhaps that role will be filled by Cam York (but I digress).

More important is Sanheim\'s workload. Philadelphia needs Sanheim to step up and average well over 20 minutes per night. Last year, Provorov and DeAngelo each averaged around 23 and 22 minutes a night, respectively. Sanheim came in right around 20:00. Sanheim needs to prove to the coaching staff that they can rely on his bigger body to withstand a significant increase from last year. If his time is limited to the 20 minutes or less, Sanheim (and the team as a whole) will be in pretty bad shape.

What would make for a successful season for Sanheim?

The answer to this question is so easy: Show us who you are, Travis. Stop being confusing. Get off the roller coaster. You have finally been freed of the dense fog that was created by Provorov & Company, LLC. Take advantage of this opportunity and show this organization that you are our guy.

On Last Thing

I already made this point in a recent game recap, but isn\'t it hilarious that this team is constantly looking for \"big boys who other smaller boys are afraid of?\" (Not an actual quote, but close). It almost feels like Travis Sanheim didn\'t fit the build, literally, but because they are stuck with him for at least eight years, they forced him to increase in size. Of course, it does raise a very interesting point: it is dumb to acquire untalented, obsolete physicality in free agency or trades when we could alternatively take our preexisting talent and feed it McDonalds. I am genuinely so pumped to see how this plays out over the course of the year.

Talking Points