November 22, 2024
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
Travis Sanheim has broken out into the Flyers' leading defenseman.
Travis Sanheim skated 24:40 on Wednesday night, leading the Flyers skaters in ice time for the 4-1 loss to the visiting Carolina Hurricanes.
But that was a light night for him.
Over the Flyers' past six games, Sanheim has skated 30-plus minutes in three of them – Nov. 9 at Florida (30:19), Nov. 11 vs. San Jose (30:23), and then Nov. 18 vs. Colorado (31:07) – setting a new career-high in ice time with each passing one.
They haven't been empty minutes either.
He's regularly stepped in to take on the Flyers' toughest assignments, has closed out gaps and checked well, and has gotten the puck cleared out and moving the other way, jumping in on the offense pretty often with it even.
During the six-game stretch, Sanheim has six points (two goals and four assists), is plus-3, and has skated an average of 28:45 per night.
For the season so far, he has five goals and 12 points, which are both good for third on the team behind wingers Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov. He's plus-2, leaving himself and Emil Andrae as the only Flyers defensemen rated positive right now (and Sanheim as the only healthy one), and on average, has taken up 25:33 per game.
His average ice time ranked third in the NHL among defensemen heading into Thursday night's slate of games, and his five goals – all at even strength – were in a six-way tie for second among blueliners.
The 28-year-old has been good and has constantly taken up a ton of tough, seemingly ever-climbing minutes. But that's only because Sanheim has been, by far, the Flyers' best defenseman this season, and has stepped up big time to every challenge, all at a time when the blue line has been stretched extremely thin.
"So we'll play him 40," John Tortorella cracked during the Flyers' morning skate in Voorhees prior to Wednesday night's game.
But in all seriousness...
"[Associate coach Brad Shaw] does with Sanny what I do with [Travis Konecny]," the Flyers' head coach said. "I'm always looking for TK. I put him in all situations all the time. They both have good engines, but defense is a little bit different, right? There's more thinking in it, there's more of a wear and tear, so we just try to call it as we see it during that game."
It's just that the call has regularly been to go to Sanheim, though it's hardly unwarranted.
I see a lot of defenseman out there who are comfortable sitting back on the blueline but this clip highlights the benefits of staying in motion and playing down, on top of the play. Great stuff from Sanheim and Zamula here. pic.twitter.com/vJYbQNpz2M
— Kane Lafranchise (@KaneLafranchise) November 20, 2024
In last Saturday's 5-2 win over the Sabres, Sanheim led a first-period possession that pinned Buffalo down in their own end, coasting low into the corner for the puck from the weak-side point that allowed the Flyers to keep cycling and then funnel the puck back out in front for Sanheim to get a couple of chances off from in tight before it kicked back out to him for the shot that did go in from further up top.
Then, at 4-on-4 late in the second, he stepped in front of a shot and took it straight to the chest in front of the Flyers' crease, shrugging it off instantly to send a pass sailing to Matvei Michkov over center ice, which led to a 2-on-0 rush and a Travis Konecny goal.
Against Colorado on Monday, a 3-2 loss, he got his line out of a shift that Colorado had them trapped in for nearly three minutes when he blocked a shot and chipped the puck clear to finally get everyone to the bench for a much-needed change, then he was consistently attacking Avalanche puck carriers trying to go downhill, with his stick always seeming to sweep in the right spot.
That continued with Carolina on Wednesday night, though in another loss 4-1, particularly when he covered for a Rasmus Ristolianen turnover along the boards. The puck slipped out in the defensive zone and three Hurricanes skaters were immediately barreling down toward the Flyers' net, but Sanheim made a smart read to slide in puck side, which set him up to take away space and prevent a scoring chance – at least in that moment.
It's been a run full of solid, consistent decisions from Sanheim, and while it hasn't put the Flyers on steady ground at 8-10-2, it has given them at least a chance of late in what have been mostly tight games.
Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim moves with the puck during the second period of Wednesday night's game against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Wells Fargo Center.
With Andrae, Cam York, and Jamie Drysdale all out from injury on the blue line, and then goaltender Sam Ersson out behind them as well, Sanheim has shouldered a heavy share of responsibility.
He's playing like "the guy," which is something that Tortorella never would've imagined out of him two years ago when the coach first took over behind the bench – if you'll remember, he was not Sanheim's biggest fan, and Sanheim himself was reportedly one "yes" from Torey Krug in St. Louis away to being traded that summer.
"It's a compliment to him as far as the difference he wants to try to make," Tortorella said. "The number one thing for me is that's what's changed from the first year. He just was out there the first year, for me. Looked good because he could skate, accomplished nothing for me.
"Now where he's gone to as far as – it started with his conditioning, he put on some weight, some good weight, he felt stronger, and then he started with an attitude, and I think he's taken off."
And for Tortorella, the greatest difference in Sanheim's game can't be measured in any stat.
"Everybody looks at numbers and this and that, but it's been fun for me to watch how he has grown mentally, like 'I am going to be the guy,'" the coach continued. "It's so cool to watch that for me because I think it's one of the most interesting facets of developing people.
"I'd like to just know what turned on up there, you know? And you can't find out, right?"
But Sanheim's guess...
"I'm just playing hockey," the defenseman said. "It feels like it's something that I've continued to work on in my offseason with my skills coach back home. I watch a lot of other players around the league, [Roman Josi], [Cale Makar], some of these guys that are getting in there and just trying to fit that into my game, some of those rush chances that they're getting.
"I think I've done a pretty good job of getting those chances."
And that's kept the minutes climbing.
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