Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim Added To COVID Protocol
The Philadelphia Flyers’ nightmare season never ends. Today, the team has placed Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim in the COVID protocol, making them unavailable to the team for tomorrow’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team has also loaned Felix Sandstrom and Kirill Ustimenko back to the AHL, clearing room for additional taxi squad recalls if necessary.
Konecny and Sanheim join Ivan Provorov, Nick Seeler, Claude Giroux, and Jackson Cates in the protocol, while several other key players remain out with injuries. Importantly, both new COVID additions played yesterday, logging 19 and 24 minutes respectively against the Anaheim Ducks. That wasn’t enough to help the Flyers win, however, as they continue to struggle through this disappointing season.
Now 13-14-6 on the year, Philadelphia will have to try to navigate the next little while without nearly their entire core. If Konecny and Sanheim tested positive, they will miss at least two games. Already the club had turned to young players like Cam York and Morgan Frost to carry some of the load, but now even more depth will be needed from the minor leagues.
Flyers Agree To Terms With Travis Sanheim
There won’t be an arbitration hearing this year after all. Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim was the last arbitration-bound player without a contract but that has changed as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the blueliner has agreed to a two-year deal with a $4.675MM AAV. PuckPedia reports that the structure of the deal is as follows:
2021-22: $4MM salary
2022-23: $5.35MM salary
The 25-year-old inked a two-year bridge contract two summers ago coming off a career-best 35-point season and at the time, it was expected that he’d continue his ascent and ideally become a top-pairing-caliber blueliner for Philadelphia. That didn’t exactly happen, however. In particular, Sanheim struggled last season, notching just 15 points in 55 games despite logging 21:53 per game (also a career-high) with some struggles in his own end. There is no doubt that Sanheim is still a big part of their future but the exact role isn’t as certain as it appeared to be.
That’s where this deal comes in. The two-year term basically amounts to a second bridge deal, allowing both the Flyers and Sanheim more time to assess his long-term value and role. Notably, it also walks him to unrestricted free agency in 2023. That’s hardly an ideal scenario for Philadelphia but when they elected to take him to arbitration earlier this month, it created the situation for this to happen as Sanheim simply could have elected the two-year term and taken his chances with the arbitrator. They get to avoid the hearing with this contract but he’ll still be able to hit the open market in his first eligible year.
Sanheim should remain behind Ivan Provorov on the left side of a new-look Philadelphia back end that now features Ryan Ellis who was brought in from Nashville plus veteran Keith Yandle to replace the offense that Shayne Gostisbehere provided as he was moved in a cap-clearing move to Arizona.
There won’t be any more shakeups coming for the Flyers, however, at least not without matching money. This move basically eats up all of their remaining cap space and will likely see them carrying less than the maximum of 23 skaters to start the season. But with the changes on the back end and the addition of Cam Atkinson up front, GM Chuck Fletcher got the core shakeup he wanted and with Sanheim signing, has his full roster under contract. Will it be enough to get back to the playoffs in what projects to be a tight Metropolitan Division? We’ll find out soon enough once the season gets underway.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
2021 Arbitration Tracker
Originally published on August 5
The dates for the upcoming arbitration hearings have been set, with the first three scheduled for August 11. Hearings will continue through August 26 in this condensed offseason. It is important to note that the CBA agreement last year changed the rules for arbitration, so that once a hearing begins, teams are no longer allowed to negotiate with the player in question.
The full schedule is:
August 11
Adam Pelech (New York Islanders) – Settled, 8 years, $5.75MM AAV
Michael McNiven (Montreal Canadiens) – Settled, 1 year, $750K/$100K AAV (two-way)
Jakub Vrana (Detroit Red Wings) – Player filing: $5.7MM – Team filing: $3.65MM – Settled, 3 years, $5.25MM AAV
August 12
Victor Mete (Ottawa Senators) – Settled, 1 year, $1.2MM AAV
August 13
Neal Pionk (Winnipeg Jets) – Settled, 4 years, $5.875MM AAV
August 14
Vince Dunn (Seattle Kraken) – Settled, 2 years, $4.0MM AAV
Zach Sanford (St. Louis Blues) – Settled, 1 year, $2.0MM AAV
August 16
Adin Hill (San Jose Sharks) – Settled, 2 years, $2.175MM AAV
Ross Colton (Tampa Bay Lightning) – Settled, 2 years, $1.125MM AAV
August 17
Kevin Fiala (Minnesota Wild) – Player filing: $6.25MM – Team filing: $4.0MM – Settled, 1 year, $5.1MM AAV
August 18
Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators) – Settled, 4 years, $5.0MM AAV
August 20
Dante Fabbro (Nashville Predators) – Settled, 2 years, $2.4MM AAV
Jason Dickinson (Vancouver Canucks) – Settled, 3 years, $2.65MM AAV
August 21
Adam Erne (Detroit Red Wings) – Settled, 2 years, $2.1MM AAV
Dennis Gilbert (Colorado Avalanche) – Settled, 1 year, $750K/$160K AAV (two-way)
August 23
Zach Aston-Reese (Pittsburgh Penguins) – Settled, 1 year, $1.725MM AAV
August 26
Andrew Copp (Winnipeg Jets) – Settled, 1 year, $3.64MM AAV
Nikita Zadorov (Calgary Flames) – Settled, 1 year, $3.75MM AAV
Travis Sanheim (Philadelphia Flyers) – Settled, 2 years, $4.675MM AAV
Flyers Elect Salary Arbitration For Travis Sanheim
It’s rare that we see a team elect salary arbitration with a player but even rarer that it happens twice in the same year. That is indeed the case, however, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Flyers have elected arbitration with defenseman Travis Sanheim. He joins Minnesota’s Kevin Fiala as those that were taken to arbitration today.
Sanheim is a particularly interesting case. Two years ago, he was coming off a breakout season that saw him collect 35 points in 82 games but with his limited track record at the time, the two sides agreed on a two-year bridge contract that carried a $3.25MM AAV. The expectation was that the deal would quickly become a bargain and that the now-25-year-old would be in line for a significant raise at its expiration.
However, that hasn’t exactly been the case. Sanheim is coming off somewhat of a disappointing season, one that saw him notch just three goals with a dozen assists in 55 games despite averaging a career-high 21:53 per game. When you factor in the 2019-20 campaign, he had 40 points in 124 games on his bridge deal. Those numbers aren’t poor by any stretch but they’re also not numbers that should land a player the significant raise that it seemed like he’d be headed for two years ago.
While the filing will guarantee that Sanheim will be signed by the end of the month, it also permits him the opportunity to select the term of the contract should it get to a hearing. Arbitration awards can only be one or two years so Sanheim could opt for the latter which would take him to UFA eligibility in the 2023 offseason. A hearing will now be scheduled between August 11th and 26th but a deal can be agreed upon up until the beginning of the hearing; it used to be that a settlement could be reached at any time but that rule was changed in the last CBA.
NHL Announces Postponement, Reschedule
12:15pm: The league has officially postponed tonight’s game between the Flyers and Capitals after a second player entered the COVID protocol. No other games have been postponed at the moment, but the league will continue to analyze test results in the coming days.
The league has also announced that the St. Louis Blues and Arizona Coyotes will move another game from later in the season, meaning they will now have seven games in a row against each other due to COVID outbreaks in other parts of the Central Division. Game #684, originally scheduled for April 15, will now be played this Friday, February 12.
10:15am: The Philadelphia Flyers are the latest NHL team facing the specter of postponement. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the team had another positive test result late last night and will likely have their game against the Washington Capitals this evening postponed. Travis Sanheim was the only Philadelphia player on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list yesterday, but that appears likely to change.
As we’ve seen with some of the other outbreaks, positive test results can come slowly and trickle in for several days after the initial positive test. It’s not clear how many players or staff have tested positive in Philadelphia or how widespread the damage is, but it appears as though they’ll miss at least one game (and, given the way the NHL has operated previously, more than that).
Of course, just 12 days from now the Flyers were set to take on the Boston Bruins in the NHL’s marquee outdoor event. The NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe is a set of two games including Philadelphia, Boston, Colorado, and Vegas that is supposed to start a modern trend of Mystery, Alaska-type events in the North American wilderness.
We’ll have to wait and see if that event is in jeopardy, but the focus now is getting the Flyers players healthy and safe. The list of postponements continues to grow.
Philadelphia Flyers Activate Sean Couturier
His time was coming near, but the Philadelphia Flyers announced Sunday that they are activating injured forward Sean Couturier off of injured reserve and the Selke Award winner is expected to be in the lineup today against the Washington Capitals.
The 28-year-old was expected to miss at least two weeks after suffering a Costochondral separation, or a rib separation, early in a Jan. 15 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Couturier has only managed to play in two games this season (including just 45 seconds on the day of his injury).
Couturier should immediately provide some much-needed stability to a Flyers team that was expected to be a dominant team this season. While the team is in second place with a 7-3-2 record this year, Philadelphia has struggled quite a bit at the same time, giving up several leads in games.
The Flyers are also expecting Philippe Myers to return to the Flyers’ lineup and is expected to start on the first pairing with Ivan Provorov, according to The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor. Travis Sanheim has come out of the lineup, but no report on whether it is injury-related.
Travis Sanheim Re-Signs With Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers have re-signed young defenseman Travis Sanheim to a two-year contract, avoiding restricted free agency. Sanheim will carry a $3.25MM cap hit over the two years and will still be an RFA when the deal expires in 2021. GM Chuck Fletcher released a statement:
We are very pleased with the progress Travis has made in his young career. He is a skilled, two-way defenseman with excellent size and mobility. He is a big part of our present and our future.
It’s hard to find a player on the Flyers that benefited more when the team decided to fire Dave Hakstol and install minor league head coach Scott Gordon last December. At that point, Sanheim had been playing sparingly for the Flyers, averaging just over 16 minutes of ice time and regularly seeing nothing in close games in the third period. Gordon, familiar with the young defenseman from his time with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, immediately promoted him and gave him more than 21 minutes in his first game. Sanheim would average nearly 22 for the rest of the season, and record 25 points in those 51 games.
That kind of production is exactly what the team now expects out of their young defenseman, who only turned 23 in March. Selected 17th overall in 2014, he will now have to impress another new coach, this time experienced bench boss Alain Vigneault. The Flyers will certainly give him that opportunity, but this time it may very well be alongside a veteran like Matt Niskanen or Justin Braun, both brought in this offseason to help stabilize the young Flyers’ defense.
This deal leaves the Flyers with several restricted free agents remaining unsigned, including Ryan Hartman, Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov.
Metropolitan Notes: Lee, Aho, Marleau, Subban, Provorov
Talks continue to be ongoing, but so far there has been no contract agreement between the New York Islanders and their captain Anders Lee. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that he saw Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello and Lee’s agent, Neil Sheehy were having a lengthy discussion during the draft Saturday. However, with unrestricted free agents being allowed to talk to other teams Sunday, a potential deal could be even more challenging.
In fact, Newsday’s Brian Heyman reports that he spoke to Lee, who remarked that the two sides haven’t reached an agreement yet.
“I never thought it would get to this point, but I guess it’s the nature of what this week means,” Lee said.
Lee said his first choice is to remain with the Islanders, but the belief is that the two sides remain far apart when it comes to term with New York likely wanting to avoid giving the veteran too long of a contract considering he’s already 28 and the team may not want to pay big into his mid-30’s.
- Carolina Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said that he had a “great discussion” yesterday with Sebastian Aho‘s representation, according to NHL.com’s Michael Smith. The 21-year-old forward will be a restricted free agent on July 1 and the team hopes to lock Aho to a long-term deal now. He scored 30 goals and 83 points last season, both career highs and continually has shown improvement every year. “I think things are going to move along. … The good thing is I don’t think we’re terribly far apart. They want to get a deal done as much as we want to get a deal done.”
- Smith also tweets that Waddell was thrilled to walk away from the Patrick Marleau deal with a future first-round pick and said that while the rumors suggest that Carolina intends to buyout Marleau, Waddell said they intend to talk to Marleau and see if he is interested in staying with Carolina. “For us, when you can pick up assets like that, like a 1st round pick, that’s important for the future. The plan would be to meet with Patrick, talk with him and see where he’s at. If he wanted to be a Hurricane, we’d certainly love to have him.”
- Before trading for P.K. Subban earlier today, New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero said he spoke to both Taylor Hall and former Devil Brian Boyle about Subban before pulling the trigger on the deal, according to NHL.com’s Amanda Stein. Subban, who possesses a powerful personality, wanted to make sure that Subban would be a good fit as well as making sure that Hall approved of the deal, considering the Devils must convince their star player to re-sign at some point. NHL.com’s Dan Rosen also confirmed from Shero that the Nashville Predators did not retain any salaries as part of the deal.
- Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi reports that the Philadelphia Flyers haven’t gotten very far yet with restricted free agent defenseman Ivan Provorov. General manager Chuck Fletcher said that progress with Provorov is slow because the team is waiting for the market to set before signing him. However, Fletcher did admit the team is much closer to signing restricted free agent Travis Sanheim and Scott Laughton.
Philadelphia Flyers Assign Samuel Morin To Conditioning Loan
The Philadelphia Flyers are finally getting a top young defenseman back on the ice. After a hiatus that dates back to November 2017, Samuel Morin is finally getting healthy. The Flyers have announced that Morin has been assigned to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms on a conditioning loan.
Morin, 23, suffered his initial groin injury early in the 2017-18 season and missed most of the year, skating in just two games for the Flyers in a season where he was expected to push for a starting job as a a rookie. However, Morin was able to come back later in the spring and returned to action with the Phantoms. In the postseason though, Morin suffered a far more serious knee injury that required major surgery. Morin went under the knife in May and was not even able to skate until late December. However, nine months after the knee injury and 15 months since his last game with Philadelphia, Morin is finally ready for game action.
Morin was selected by the Flyers with the 11th overall pick in 2013 and was considered to have the size and skill to be a core defenseman. Morin joined Ivan Provorov, Robert Hagg, Travis Sanheim, and Phil Myers as Philly’s next wave on defense that was expected to rival all blue lines across the league. However, it has not worked out that way. Provorov has developed into an elite defender, albeit in a down year, and Hagg has settled into a dependable stay-at-home role, but the Flyers are still waiting on the promise of the rest of the group, with Sanheim being the focus this season. Morin sticks out as the biggest disappointment, though. TSN’s Frank Seravalli notes that Morin has played fewer NHL games than all but one of his fellow 2013 first-rounders, due to injuries of course but also underwhelming performance. The Flyers hope that Morin’s injury history is just that and the young defenseman can move forward and take steps towards reaching his potential.
Andrew MacDonald Out Six Weeks After Off-Season Injury
The regular season is a month away and training camps have not even opened up yet, but the Philadelphia Flyers have already suffered a major loss. The team announced this morning that defenseman Andrew MacDonald has suffered a lower-body injury and will be out for an estimated six weeks. MacDonald reportedly suffered the injury during a workout away from the team, according to GM Ron Hextall.
MacDonald, 32, is in his sixth season with the Flyers and his eleventh overall. The veteran defenseman has had ups and downs in his career, but provides experience and leadership on the young Philly blue line. An alternate captain for the team and the oldest skater on the roster, MacDonald’s loss, especially at the start of the season, could be a blow to the Philadelphia locker room. With a six week window for recovery, MacDonald is sure to miss all of camp and the preseason and will likely miss the first two weeks or more of the regular season.
In his absence, the Flyers will need to lean more on their young defensive core. Shayne Gostisbehere, Ivan Provorov, and Robert Hagg have established themselves as the next wave of top defenders for Philadelphia and were primed to take ice time and responsibility from MacDonald this season regardless. Now they will especially be thrust into more responsibility, as will veteran Radko Gudas. Travis Sanheim and Christian Folin will now begin the season with guaranteed starting jobs now that MacDonald is out, giving the Flyers a rounded out top six. With Samuel Morin sidelined for at least a few more months with an ACL injury, one big question now is who begins the season as the Flyers’ extra defender until MacDonald can return.