Philadelphia Flyers: Travis Sanheim deserves more playing time

The 2014 first round draft pick has looked good to start the season for the Philadelphia Flyers, and it’s time to give him a bigger role.

There isn’t a whole lot to be positive about with the 2018-19 Philadelphia Flyers right now. They’ve lost their last three games, and have the 27th best record in the NHL with 4-7-0 through eleven games.

While their overall team defense is a major issue, two defensemen have continued to play a solid game through the Flyers struggles. Travis Sanheim and Radko Gudas have arguably been the teams’ best defensemen throughout the early season.

Among NHL defensive pairings that have played at least 50 minutes of time-on-ice together, Sanheim and Gudas rank seventh in Corsi-For percentage (CF%) with 61.35%, 15th in Fenwick-For percentage with 57.39%, and have only allowed three total Goals-Against while playing together in all situations, according to Corsica.

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It’s clear they work great together, but at some point Head coach Dave Hakstol has to give one of them a bigger role and more playing time. I personally think Gudas is playing some of the best hockey of his career at the moment, and while I wouldn’t completely be against him moving up in the lineup, Sanheim deserves an opportunity the most.

Sanheim is the more offensively gifted of the two, even though they both have five assists on the season. He’s also younger than Gudas and the second youngest defenseman on the team behind Ivan Provorov. Minus Christian Folin, Sanheim has the lowest average time-on-ice among defensemen on the team with 16:24. Rewarding him with more playing time could boost his confidence and aid in his development as well.

His possession metrics have also been very good to start the season. Sanheim ranks 20th among NHL defensemen with at least 50 minutes of time-on-ice in CF% with 56.58% and is tied 12th in Scoring Chances For percentage with 60.00% in all situations, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. The only Flyers defenseman that is ahead or tied with him in these categories is Shayne Gostisbehere, with the only reason being that Gostisbehere plays on the top power-play unit.

Speaking of the power-play, it seems Sanheim is finally getting a real shot on the man advantage. Hakstol made some changes to the power-play unit during Monday’s practice, placing Travis Konecny and Nolan Patrick on the top unit while Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds were moved down to the second. Sanheim was also on the second unit, with fellow defenseman Provorov. This could help ignite his goal scoring and his already decent offensive production.

Next. Just play the prospects, Hakstol.. dark

The power-play time isn’t enough, though. He’s shown he can possess the puck very well when given the chance and chip in on offense from time-to-time. While his youth might scare Hakstol away from the idea, he has most definitely has out-played his third pairing status. It’s time to give Sanheim more ice-time.

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