Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny is coming off a career-high 76-point season, but the 28-year-old will need to clear one final hurdle to truly elevate his game to the next level, writes the Hockey News’ Jonathan Bailey.
Konecny is coming off of a bit of a two-part season. He started 2024-25 with a bang, which included 17 goals in his first 38 games. However, he struggled mightily down the stretch, posting just seven goals in his final 44 games. What’s more, he was only able to light the lamp twice over the final 25 games of the season. Despite those struggles during the second half, Konecny (who skated in all 82 games and participated in the 4 Nations Face-Off), still finished with a career-high 0.927 points per game.
However, as Bailey sees it, Konecny will need to surpass the point-per-game mark to truly enter the conversation among the league’s elite. By doing so, Konecny will likely maintain consistent play throughout the season. While the 4 Nations Face-Off may have slowed Konecny’s steam down the stretch, his hope to participate with Team Canada in the 2026 Olympics will force a similar situation next season.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- While the organization has taken several steps forward in recent seasons, the New Jersey Devils believe they are now ready to truly compete for the Stanley Cup. Per NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale, New Jersey assistant general manager Dan MacKinnon said, “To put it succinctly, it’s time to take another step.” MacKinnon acknowledged that injuries played a role down the stretch last season, which ended with a five-game, first-round loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Injuries last season included Jack Hughes missing the remainder of the year after undergoing shoulder surgery in March, as well as defensemen Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon going down in Game 1 of the playoffs. All three are expected to be ready to go to start next season, and the additions of veterans like Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov should only help the cause. “I think the one thing we were looking for is better 5-on-5 play, and you look at the goal totals of Brown and Dadonov, a majority come at 5-on-5,” said GM Tom Fitzgerald. “We feel we’ve definitely added to what we felt we needed in depth. But, again, you want players to level out and be consistent with their play from October to the end of the season.”
- Forward Trevor Kuntar, 24, signed a one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, seeking not only a fresh start but also the opportunity to follow in his father’s footsteps and play for his hometown team, per team reporter Andrew Mossbrooks. Kuntar, a native of the Buffalo area, signed with Rochester after spending the last two seasons in the Boston Bruins organization. After three seasons at Boston College, Kuntar signed with the Boston and appeared in 124 games with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, posting 13 goals and 32 points. Kuntar is now set to wear the same jersey his father, Les Kuntar, wore for Rochester during the 1996-97 season.
Saying New Jersey is ready to compete for a cup is laughable. They proved they were anything but ready in the first round. Yes, they were missing Jack Hughes but that’s the unfortunate reality of having him as your top player – he’s always hurt. They haven’t made a meaningful acquisition yet this summer so unfortunately all of their success relies completely on the ability for Jack Hughes to stay healthy.
The defense is just not good enough as currently constructed imo.
They have the 8th.best odds to win the cup and if you can honestly just shrug off Hughes injury, you’re laughable
Their top 5 D were injured or playing hurt but let’s not get that in the way of the story you are telling yourself lol
Okay, you are a Cup specialist, I can respect that, Please let us know which teams will make the playoffs, which will be in the final 8, final four, and final 2. Thanks.
It doesnt matter as much if those top 5 dmen arent that good.
Well that’s like just your opinion man. I’d say top 10 in the league.
I did say it was just my opinion in the first post.
I dont agree, but we will see. The season cant get here soon enough!
The Devil’s have one of the BEST D core’s in the entire NHL. They ranked Top 10 in nearly every category including prospects with S.Nemec, S.Casey, & Anton Silayev.
Best Def. Metrics:
•TEAM Goal DIFF.: +20 Ranked 10th Best
•SA/GP: 26.35 Rank 21 but 16th was 27…
•PK% 82.7% Ranked 2nd Best
•Hits: 1,929 Ranked 10th Best
•Blocked Shots: Not good here 6th *Worst*
•DZone Give Aways: Ranked 9th Least
•xGoal Differential: +20 Ranked 12th Best
•xGoal Diff. 5v5: +10.9 Ranked 11th Best
•FA & CA per 60: can only add 2 sets of data in Moneypuck’s graph at once, but NJ’s def. was Top 10 in both.
Hamilton and Pesce are both on the downside and injury-prone, and Nemec still needs a bigger sample size to prove himself. That right side worries me.
Konecny just needs an elite linemate to take his numbers to another level.