It’s NHL free agency day and some teams are getting ready to make some interesting moves. The Philadelphia Flyers could be among them. Not only are there a few realistic free-agent options, but the Flyers have cropped up in trade rumors over the past few weeks.
An intriguing name popped up on TSN Hockey’s Trade Bait List on Friday morning. It wasn’t Shayne Gostisbehere, or James van Riemsdyk, or even Jakub Voracek, but rather Travis Konecny.
Yes, that’s right, Travis Konecny is currently No. 17 on the list. The 23-year-old winger has been on the up-and-up for the Flyers over the past few years and he broke out last season with a career-high 61 points and 24 goals in just 66 games. That’s an 82-game pace of 29.81 goals and 75.78 points. Not too shabby.
So, why would the Flyers even consider trading Konecny? Well, the main player that Konecny has been linked to is Patrik Laine. Laine, the second overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, is a year younger than Konecny and is one of the very few players to score as many goals as he has this early in his career.
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The only possible way a Konecny trade would make sense is if it was for someone like Laine or a player on a similar tier. Even then, the Flyers would need to not give up too much more to make it a palatable trade. Konecny is under contract for five more years at a $5.5 million AAV, while Laine is due $6.75 million this coming season before his big pay day as a restricted free agent. However, if the Flyers didn’t need to add a lot more with Konecny for Laine, it’d be worth considering. Laine is an exciting young player and goal scorers like him don’t become available too often.
We may not even have to worry about Laine anymore, however. The Winnipeg Jets traded for Paul Stastny on Friday morning, which could help solve their top-six issues. Laine now has a second-line center to play with, and it’s someone he has some familiarity with. All signs point to Laine staying put in Winnipeg, but anything is possible.
But let’s get back to the main point: It would be crazy for the Flyers to trade Travis Konecny. Konecny is one of the best young goal scorers in the league and he is only getting better. On top of that, his aforementioned contract is a great one at $5.5 million for the next five years, and he has more to his two-way game than some other scorers (Laine specifically). He is also a fan favorite and by all accounts a great guy in the locker room.
Konecny had a poor performance in the playoffs. He’ll be the first one to admit that. He went scoreless in 19 games, though he did pick up 7 assists. It’s not like he wasn’t getting some chances as he had the fourth-highest individual expected goals (3.13 ixG) on the Flyers.
More importantly, let’s take note of Konecny’s stats last season. His 61 points tied him for the 32nd most in the league in his age-22 season. The only players in their age-22 or 21 season with more points were Auston Matthews (80), Sebastian Aho (66), Elias Pettersson (66), and Laine (63). Konecny’s 24 goals were tied for the 44th-most in the league. Only Matthews (47), Aho (38), Laine (28), and Pettersson (27) had more in that age group.
At 5-on-5 play, Konecny was once again one of the top forwards in the league. His 2.32 points per 60 minutes was good for 31st in the league. That’s again behind Pettersson (2.6), Aho (2.42), and Matthews (2.34), but ahead of Laine (2.03). Looking strictly at goals, Konecny had the 10th-best goals per 60 in the NHL last season with a 1.27 clip. That was behind Matthews (1.56) and Aho (1.37), but ahead of Pettersson (1.17), Laine (0.87).
One of the aspects of Konecny’s game that has flown under the radar is his two-way game and play without the puck. He improved drastically as a passer and just as an all-around player. His Corsi-For Percentage of 54.77% was behind only Sean Couturier (56.25%) on the Flyers, with his Expected-Goals For Percentage of 54.58% behind James van Riemsdyk (55.6%) and Couturier (55.54%). Across the league, Konecny’s CF% Relative was the 19th-best in the league at +5.24%. For reference, Laine (-2.42%) was 153rd among 164 forwards with at least 800 minutes played.
There is always a hankering among the fanbase (and sometimes others) for a trade to shake things up, especially after a disappointing playoff exit, but trading Konecny would not be a smart move. He is a fantastic player both on and off the ice and should be a part of the Flyers’ core for years to come.
All stats via Natural Stat Trick and CapFriendly
