The Flyers are hoping to right the ship towards a level of consistency this season. Just how are they going to do it? Well, do something Flyers fans haven’t been accustomed to in the past. Relying on a stud in Travis Konecny, as he needs and deserves an expanded role.
Konency is an electrifying player. It’s like he’s doing the electric slide all night long on the ice. He was everything and then some last season. Moreover, it’s great to see that Dave Hakstol trusts Konecny, as the coaching staff has been using him on the penalty kill here as of late in the pre-season, “Yeah, we’ll see how it pans out, I have no idea, but we’ll see as it keeps going on here,” Konecny says.
Konecny does a little bit of everything. He will chip in on the power play, lay a big hit, block shots, and most of all do anything to help the team win. Featured on the top line with Claude Giroux, and Sean Couturier to close out the season, Konecny set career highs in every offensive category. He blasted 24 goals, and chipped in 23 assists for a career high 47 points. Moreover, Konecny issued out 97 hits, blocked 53 shots, and finished the year with an insane plus 17 rating, which were also all career highs. Simply put, Konecny does it all as he’s learning the game the right way.
“I think I learned a lot through Hak and the coaching staff, playing with Jake. I guess stick to being more of an offensive threat, can’t take stupid penalties. I think I’ve matured that way for sure.”
He just has the knack of knowing where to be and when. Konecny is lightning fast, and before a player can blink their eyes, more often than not he’s blown by them. However, one of the most underrated parts of Konecny’s game is sacrificing his body for blocking a shot. This catches the eyes of his teammates and the coaching staff alike, so it’s not crazy to see Konecny being featured on the penalty kill in the pre-season.
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His stats show he’s lethal, but it’s intriguing to know that Konecny will play on either wing, which really shows his versatility. Konecny has filthy hands, and has learned to play a real smart game. He wanted to shake the rust off his game from the off-season, and this is one main reason Konecny showed up to camp early.
“I like to come to camp early, and get settled in. Shake off some of the dust (Laughing). Doesn’t matter about playing either side. I’ll do whatever.”
Konecny is becoming a future great in Philadelphia. His heart and soul is winning over the proud orange clad fans of Philadelphia. It’s great to see just how hard this young man works on a nightly basis. Konecny’s unselfish play is starting to win over his coaches, and he is being rewarded with an expanded role. This last quote from Friday night really shows how much he has matured:
“I think each position has its job I guess, and part of my job is getting pucks out on the wall and I just know I need to clean that up, and I won’t be satisfied until I can completely zero that out. You’re never going to be perfect, but I mean I made some questionable plays tonight that in regular season when teams are in the right spots and players are on their game, they’re going to end up in the back of the net. So, I gotta clean that stuff up.”
