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Travis Konecny

Travis Konecny To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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After suffering a lower-body injury last night against the St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers rookie Travis Konecny will be out 4-6 weeks. At minimum, that would mean missing the next eleven Flyers games, a team that is in a dogfight for the final wildcard spot. Konecny left the game before the third period last night, and was ruled out by GM Ron Hextall earlier today.

Konecny was a member of this year’s famed teenage class, making an impact at the NHL level at the tender age of 19 years old. Along with fellow rookie Ivan Provorov, Konecny had been making a huge impact for the Flyers and showed a glimpse at what the future holds for the team. His 22 points in 51 games put him 14th in all rookie scoring and fifth on his team. It’s a big loss despite his young age, as he played almost 15 minutes a night for the club.

If he takes the whole six weeks, Konecny would return with just ten games remaining in the Flyers season. For a team that looks like it will be in a struggle for the playoffs right down to the wire, having a winger of Konecny’s skill down the stretch is imperative. It’s not clear who will be moving up in the lineup to fill his spot, as he has been skating on one of the team’s top two lines.

Snapshots: NHL Three Stars, Gostisbehere, Johnson

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The NHL has named its Three Stars of the Week: Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund, and Peter Budaj.

Aho had four goals and an assist in three games, including two game-winning goals. In the Hurricanes’ first game of the week, Aho had a hat-trick and assist, before scoring the winning goal on Friday against the Oilers and being held pointless on Saturday. In 51 games, the 2015 second-round pick has 16 goals and 31 points, good for sixth among rookies.

Granlund had three goals and six points in three games as the Wild went 2-1-0. After two assists in the first two games of the week, he too had a hat-trick plus assist in the third game of the week. Granlund currently leads the Wild in scoring with 48 points in 51 games.

Budaj won three of four games with a 0.930 SV%, 1.62 GAA, and two shutouts. After starting the season as the Kings’ third-string goaltender, he now leads the NHL in shutouts with seven and has a sparkling 0.920 SV% with 25 wins in 46 appearances. With Jonathan Quick out from opening night until March, Budaj has allowed the Kings to remain in a wildcard spot.

  • The offensively-starved Flyers will be without last year’s rookie standout Shayne Gostisbehere yet again when the Blues come to Philadelphia tonight, but it’s not an injury or illness that’s keeping him out. Gostisbehere will be a healthy scratch for the third-straight game. After scoring 17 goals and 46 points in 64 games last year, he has just four goals and 21 points in 48 games this season. That’s a pace of 7-29-36 over 82 games, much lower than his 59-point-pace in 2015-16. While Gostisbehere will remain out of the lineup, rookie forward Travis Konecny will draw back in for Matt Read. When asked about the lineup, coach Dave Hakstol told NBC’s Jason Brough that he’s “trying to dress the best roster possible to win hockey games. Point blank.” Without Gostisbehere, the Flyers are 1-1, winning 3-1 and losing 1-0.
  • In an appearance on TSN Radio in Edmonton, Bob McKenzie put forward the idea that Tampa Bay could look to move pending RFA center Tyler Johnson for defensive help. Despite Johnson’s lessened production this year (33 points in 53 games), McKenzie suggests a combination of “needing a defenseman and maybe having a surplus of forwards, and… the cap issues and maybe not being in a position to sign [Johnson] might make him more expendable over some of the other pieces.” Besides making a decision on potential rentals like Ben Bishop and Brian Boyle and RFA forwards Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat, and Johnson, McKenzie believes GM Steve Yzerman will be looking for a cost-controlled defenseman to make his team better going forward. Regardless of who he choses to keep, it’s going to be a stressful next few months for Yzerman.

Hextall: No Shakeup Trades On The Horizon

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After going on a ten game winning streak earlier this year, the Flyers now find themselves mired in a similarly-sized slump, dropping nine of their last 11 games as they get set to host Vancouver tonight.  That has had many wondering if GM Ron Hextall would be willing to make a trade to shake things up but he told Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post that it’s not something he plans to consider:

“I’m not gonna make a trade to send a message. I’m (only) going to make a trade to make us better. ”

“… We’re staying on course. I don’t care if we win every game for the rest of the year or lose every game. We’re staying on course. We set out a course two and a half years ago and we’re not deviating from what we planned.”

Historically, Hextall has done most of his trading in the offseason.  Since taking over from Paul Holmgren in May of 2014, he has only made three in-season trades.  Of those, only one was of particular significance, when he acquired Radko Gudas for a pending UFA in Braydon Coburn, who later re-signed in Tampa.  The other two trades were to shed part of Vincent Lecavalier’s contract to the Kings last season and giving Kimmo Timonen one last shot at a Stanley Cup before he would have to retire due to blood clots, dealing him to Chicago back in 2015.  In other words, history suggests he’s not about to make a core-changing reactionary move.  That hasn’t stopped him from voicing his frustration with their recent play, however:

“It’s driving me nuts. I hope it is everybody else, too. In saying that, it’s a close league. Every night, you have to be on top of your game. You don’t play good, you don’t win. We’re not playing well enough right now. You can’t accept losing.”

With no trades on the horizon, head coach Dave Hakstol acknowledged that he will continue to tweak their lines in an effort to get some more players going.  One of those moves is switching rookie Travis Konecny over to the right wing, a position he played for most of his junior career.  He’s expected to play alongside Claude Giroux on the top line beginning tonight against the Canucks.  The 19 year old got off to a quick start this year but has been much quieter of late, scoring just twice in his last 27 games.

Snapshots: Benson, Connauton, Burrows, Flyers, Olympics

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The Edmonton Oilers have put pen to paper with one of their 2016 draft picks as they announced that they have inked left winger Tyler Benson to a three year, entry level contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Benson was Edmonton’s second round pick (32nd overall) back in June.  The Edmonton native had long been touted as a first rounder but an injury-plagued 2015-16 season (he played in just 30 games) certainly didn’t help his draft stock.

This season, Benson leads his junior team, the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, in scoring with 40 points (10-30-40) in 31 games.  As has been the case with several young prospects who have signed recently, unless Benson plays in ten or more games with the Oilers this season, his contract will actually ‘slide’ a year with the team receiving a small reduction in his salary cap charge.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Per a team release, the Arizona Coyotes have assigned defenseman Kevin Connauton to their AHL affiliate in Tucson on a conditioning assignment. Connauton has played just twice this month and only nine times this season as he has predominantly been the seventh defenseman for Arizona.
  • Canucks left winger Alex Burrows will play in his 800th game tonight against Anaheim. All of those games have come in a Vancouver uniform and once he suits up, he’ll be only the sixth player in franchise history to play in 800 games for the Canucks.  The 35 year old has been an effective bottom six player this season with 14 points (6-8-14) in 32 games and has 378 points (190-188-378) through his first 799 contests.
  • The Flyers will make rookie winger Travis Konecny a healthy scratch tonight, notes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The timing is a little strange as Konecny is coming off a two assist game but head coach Dave Hakstol wants to see his play improve without the puck on his stick.  Left winger Michael Raffl will return to the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game with a lower body injury and slot in on the top line while defenseman Radko Gudas is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
  • The NHL has drafted two versions of the 2017-18 schedule with the uncertainty surrounding their participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics, notes Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston (Twitter links).  As a result, the league is no longer imposing any deadline on the decision regarding whether they will or won’t be participating.  However, the IOC is still hoping for a decision by January 15th.

Snapshots: Flyers Rookies, Kronwall, Jordan, Rod

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The Flyers may have a pair of rookies in their opening night lineup. Forward Travis Konecny and defenseman Ivan Provorov have both looked good so far in the pre-season; Konecny is leading the team with six points in six games and Provorov is playing big minutes on a pairing with Mark Streit.

Konecny has played up and down the lineup so far in the pre-season, and figures to be a feisty bottom-six forward with the potential to move up the lineup as needed. He can play either wing or center. Count head coach Dave Hakstol among those impressed by Konecny’s “ability to read a play and make things happen.”

Meanwhile, Provorov has shown great chemistry with Streit after another wonderful season with the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL, with 21 goals and 73 points in 62 games. He might be the best of many high-end defensive prospects in the Flyers system.

Seeing as Konecny and Provorov are both still junior-eligible, they’ll need to either play in the NHL or go back to junior. Expect both men to get at least nine games to show he’s ready.

  • The Red Wings may be without Niklas Kronwall to start the season. The veteran defenseman has a knee injury according to Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. Coach Jeff Blashill says if Kronwall isn’t available on opening night then the Red Wings will carry eight defensemen to start the season.
  • Former Hurricanes depth defenseman Michal Jordan has signed with Ak Bars Kazan in the KHL. It was reported earlier this off-season that Jordan was seeking a one-way contract as an unrestricted free agent (UFA). The Hurricanes had apparently offered him a two-way contract but Jordan wasn’t interested. Jordan has 3 goals and 7 points in 79 NHL games over the last four seasons.
  • And speaking of players signing overseas, San Jose Sharks 2014 second-round pick Noah Rod has signed a five-year extension with his Swiss club, Genève-Servette HC. According to ESPN’s Corey Pronman, Rod does have an out-clause to come to North America to play with the Sharks.

Flyers Lose Laughton, Manning To Injury

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According to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, the Philadelphia Flyers have lost two players to injury today. Scott Laughton will be out 3-4 weeks with a lower-body injury, while Brandon Manning is week-to-week with an injury to his upper-body.

Laughton, a former first-round pick of the Flyers, had his first full NHL season last year, contributing 21 points in 71 games. The 22-year old was hoping to improve on those numbers as he headed into this season, but will now have to wait for a few weeks to join the club. With the season starting in less than a week, his timeline should keep him out for the first 10 games or so.

Manning, 26, was an option for the Flyers on the back end after spending 56 games with them last season. The undrafted blueliner has built quite a career since his days with the Chilliwack Bruins, making his NHL debut as a 22-year old and finding a ton of success at the AHL level. In 2014-15 he put up 43 points in 60 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms while also racking up 150 penalty minutes (he had 31 and 231 the year before).

The Flyers had some tough decisions coming in camp, especially around youngsters Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov, both of whom should benefit from these injuries.  The two 19-year olds are trying to make the jump from the CHL to NHL and have turned heads at camp this year. Each was a first-round pick in the past and look ready to contribute at a professional level.

Flyers Notes: MacDonald, Gostisbehere, Konecny, Cousins

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After being cut and waived by the Flyers early last season, that’s not likely to be the case this time around, CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio believes.  Not only does Philadelphia have the room to keep his $5MM cap hit on the books but MacDonald’s ability to play both sides on the blueline has made him a  much more valuable player to have around.

Last season, MacDonald formed a pairing with Michael Del Zotto with MacDonald playing on the left side.  In camp, he has found himself on the right side alongside top prospect Ivan Provorov, who appears likely to make the opening night roster.

The Flyers currently have eight defensemen in camp and are expected to trim that to seven before the season gets underway.  While it remains likely that the team could ship MacDonald back to the minors as he would be a safe bet to clear waivers, another option is Brandon Manning, who was in and out of the lineup last season and would be in a similar role if he were to break camp with the team.  However, he would have to clear waivers to be sent down.  The only players who don’t are Provorov and Calder finalist Shayne Gostisbehere, who is a lock to make the team.

[Related: Flyers Depth Chart]

More out of Philadelphia:

  • While rookies who quickly surge to become impact players midseason often drop off the next year, the Flyers are expecting Gostisbehere to buck that trend, writes Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post. After starting last season in the AHL, he was recalled and quickly became a force, scoring 17 goals while adding 29 assists in just 64 games and merely repeating those numbers over a full season would have him among the higher scoring blueliners in the league once again.  The 23 year old logged just over 20 minutes per game last season and will likely shoulder a similar workload in 2016-17.
  • Speed is a huge factor in today’s NHL which should work well for 2015 Flyer first rounder Travis Konecny, Isaac pens in a separate piece. The 19 year old is looking to forego his last junior season (with OHL Sarnia) to stick with Philadelphia and has made a strong impression at camp, leading the team in preseason scoring with four points in four games.  However, at just 5’10, he’s undersized for the bottom six role he would likely play with the team.  As a junior aged player, Konecny can play in nine NHL games before burning the first year of his entry level contract.
  • Also from the above column, center Nick Cousins is attempting to transition to the left wing. Although he spent a good portion of the season as their third line center last year, the bottom two spots at that position appear to be earmarked for returnee Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and newcomer Boyd Gordon.  Cousins appears to be open to the move, telling Isaac, “It’s going to be a little different, but I’m open to try it. I think once I get used to it, I’ll be good at it. I’ll fit in wherever they want me.”

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