The Philadelphia Flyers are in a rebuild. Their best player – or one of them – is a 26-year-old forward with two years left on his contract coming off a career year. You have to trade him, right? Well, maybe not.
On Thursday, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported a little tidbit about the Flyers’ feisty winger in his rumblings column:
The Flyers have continued to listen on Travis Konecny, and I know they’ve received a few trade offers of late, but unless something changes, GM Danny Briere is likely to keep Konecny in the fold to start the season. Nothing that’s come the Flyers’ way has made them blink. It needs to be an overwhelming offer for Briere to move him. If Konecny isn’t moved this summer, all eyes will be on him at the trade deadline.
It makes sense. The Flyers need some good players, right? Konecny seemed to click with John Tortorella behind the bench and could grow into an even better player next season. He’s a valuable piece to build around, but he might be even more valuable on the trade market.
Konecny, 26, is coming off a career year. He was previously stuck on the 24-goal mark but rocketed by that with a 31-goal campaign. He added 30 assists for 60 points, tying his career high from the 2019-20 season – that was in 66 games, this was in 60. The gritty winger bought into Tortorella’s system and it paid off for him. The Flyers should cash in.
Konecny has two years left on his contract at a team-friendly $5.5M cap hit. By the time the Flyers are going to be ready to compete, Konecny will be a free agent. Could he want to stick around through a rebuild as one of the key veteran pieces? Absolutely. If he goes that route, I could see a “C” on his chest before long. But you can’t bank on that.
You also may not be able to count on Konecny putting up 30 goals again either, though. He shot at a 16.2% clip and as one of the Flyers’ few weapons, you can bet that other teams will be focused on shutting him down. We saw a team in a similar position last year.
Last offseason, the Chicago Blackhawks traded a 24-year-old winger coming off a career year in Alex DeBrincat. In return, they received the seventh overall pick (Kevin Korchinski) and 39th overall pick (Paul Ludwinski) in last year’s draft plus a third-round pick in 2024. However, DeBrincat only had one year left on his contract for $6.4M and is now set to go to arbitration with the Ottawa Senators.
Now, it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison but maybe apples-to-oranges (Why can’t fruit be compared?).
Konecny could be a more ideal player for a contending team than DeBrincat was last year. We hear a lot of teams talk about players “fitting their timeline” this offseason. Well, Konecny’s two-year contract at a very reasonable price is a known factor and easy for a team to fit under the cap.
But the Flyers don’t have to trade him now either.
It also makes a bit of sense to hold on to Konecny as he’d be a trade target at the deadline and then again next offseason. Perhaps an in-season bidding war can get to Briere’s asking price.
Konecny trade or not, you can count on Briere continuing to make some exciting moves this offseason.
Kurt R.
