The Philadelphia Flyers only lost their budding young star Travis Konecny for three games as it turns out, given he has been activated from injured reserve in time for tonight’s tilt against the Anaheim Ducks. Konecny was diagnosed with a concussion just over a week ago. Unfortunately, Scott Laughton has taken his place on injured reserve after leaving Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Wild.
Konecny’s return will be welcomed in Philadelphia after the Flyers went 0-3 in his absence. They scored just five goals total in those three games, something he should help to remedy if he is back at full strength. The 22-year old has 28 points in 30 games this year to lead the Flyers and looks like he will soon take over as the face of the franchise as Claude Giroux enters his mid-thirties.
His breakout is coming at the perfect time for GM Chuck Fletcher, who got Konecny to sign a six-year, $33MM deal just before the season began. If he can continue to produce at close to a point-per-game while providing the kind of energy and peskiness he’s known for, Konecny will soon become one of the best bargains in the league at a $5.5MM cap hit.