The Philadelphia Flyers have had an unsurprisingly quiet offseason. Outside of making a few trades at the NHL Draft, Danny Briere & Co. have largely done the expected. They bought out Cam Atkinson, brought back Erik Johnson as a veteran mentor, and re-signed their restricted free agents.
The Flyers don’t have a lot left to do this summer but there are a few loose ends that the front office could tie up before training camp. Namely, what to do with Travis Konecny. Briere now has less than a year to make arguably one of the biggest decisions during his tenure: to sign or trade Konecny.
Konecny, 27, is entering the final year of a six-year, $33 million contract. The then-22-year-old forward didn’t sign that deal until the middle of September, and it turned out to be a solid one as Konecny has turned into a bonafide top-six winger who can elevate his game to the top line with the right linemates.
The winger is coming off a career year in which he set personal bests with 68 points and 33 goals. Over the past two seasons, Konecny has 129 points (64 points, 65 assists) in 136 games. His growth on the ice has aligned with his leadership off it, becoming an alternate captain late last season.
It would make sense for Konecny to want to stick around in Philadelphia, and the same can be said from the team’s perspective. While he’s a bit older than the rest of the group, and his prime may not line up with the Flyers’ contending window, Konecny is a guy you could see in Orange and Black for the rest of his career. If the price is right, that is.
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