Photo Credit: Katelynn Reiss
“All the additions that we’ve made this offseason, I think it’s exciting to get to know all those guys meet them,” Travis Sanheim said before the season began. “I haven’t spoken with him (Rasmus Ristolainen) personally, but I’ve heard some great things. Spoken to Mike Yeo about them and Chuck about them as well. I’m excited to get to know them, potentially play with them. I know our forwards have hated to play against them and go up against them every night, so if he can bring that to our side and it can be a great pair.” It’s a shame the Flyers season has not gone as planned, but Travis Sanheim continues to evolve his game.
The young 25-year-old, 6’3 181 pound, Travis Sanheim has been the Flyers most steadiest defenseman this season. Paired alongside Rasmus Ristolainen, the two have played well together for the most part, as Sanheim has been very consistent. The one area that Sanheim should get more playing time is on the Power Play. It’s time to take the gloves off these younger guys, and see what the Flyers got. Mike Yeo should also be on board with this.
Sanheim should get Power Play time over Keith Yandle. Yandle is a veteran that is in regression, and really holding the Flyers back at this point. He has an iron man streak, and I have heard from some within the organization they do not want to bear fruit to ruining that streak. Not fair to Sanheim, who should be growing his game with the man advantage. The Power Play is ranked 26th in the league, with a 75.3 success rate. Yet Yandle saw 1:44 of PP time in a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night, as compared to Sanheim’s whopping “Goose Egg” 0 minutes.
Finally Sanheim saw PP time against the Colorado Avalanche, while amounting 1:47 of PP time, as compared to Yandle’s “Goose Egg” of 0. However, I remain cautious, as the Flyers played a back to back, a game in which Yandle really showed his age. Sanheim seeing PP time this game could have been a matter of playing in a back to back.
Sanheim has been fantastic this season for the most part. He is in the passing lanes, his gap control is better, and Sanheim is just confident with the puck which were leading to quick zone exits.
Sanheim continues, “A lot of changes. A lot of new faces. I think everyone’s excited. I think we see a lot of good things in the moves that were made and gets us excited to get back to Philly. I know speaking with the other guys and the potential that we see. Chuck’s done his job. Now it’s up to us to come together as a group and show him the moves that he made and why he did them.”
He seals gaps well, but he has to get bigger and stronger to move his opponents. In the end, the Flyers could use a dependable second pairing defenseman that is a good skater and can log minutes, thus Sanheim provides both of those elements as he has logged a career high in minutes this season while averaging 22:29 if ice time per game.
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Defensemen that can skate and log minutes are hard to come by in the NHL, they do not grow on trees. One thing is for certain, this is Sanheim’s biggest season yet given his cap hit, and he has done well. In the same token with looking at what other players made this offseason in terms of pay. Sanheim’s $4.675 million cap hit aligns with other players, and he has become more consistent for this contract to be considered a good one.
