Philadelphia Flyers: Travis Konecny Boasting Early Season Dominance

The Philadelphia Flyers winger has been nothing short of dominant for the team in their first two games of the year.

Coming off of a career-high 49 point season for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2018-19, Travis Konecny entered the 2019-20 regular season with some lofty expectations from the fanbase, mostly due to a six-year, 33 million dollar contract he signed at the beginning of Training Camp. The 22-year-old forward met a few of them during the preseason, tying for the team-lead in goals with two in three games. That success has to translate over to games that actually matter, though, and oh boy, has it ever in the first two contests of the campaign.

Konecny, at the time this was written, leads the Flyers in total points with five (3 Goals, 1 Assist) to open the season. That mark ties for 15th in the entire NHL, and his goal-total ties for eighth, as well. He’s never had a better start to an NHL campaign through his four-year tenure, with the closest coming during his rookie year when he posted three points in the same amount of games.

TK has also wholly dominated in the advanced stats department, sitting first on the team in every category at even strength except Goals-for percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick. In fact, his numbers have been so good that he ranks third in Expected Goals-for percentage (85.36), fifth in Scoring Chances-for percentage (80.65), and sixth in Corsi-for (70.59) and Fenwick-for (71.79) in the entire league. It’s worth noting that most of the players in front of him have seen less Time on Ice than him, too, further proving just how effective he’s been for Philadelphia thus far.

You didn’t think I wouldn’t mention the highlight-reel goal he scored against the Chicago Blackhawks, did you? The former first-round pick took a pass from Scott Laughton, blasted through the neutral zone, deked his way passed Duncan Keith, and roofed a backhand shot for the impressive tally.

I mean my goodness, Teeks. Keith may not be what he once was as a defenseman, but he’s still a future Hall Of Famer in most people’s eyes and isn’t caught looking foolish that often. This isn’t the first and undoubtedly won’t the last highlight we see from Konecny in the future, as his confidence on offense continues to grow.

Konecny won’t be able to keep this kind of pace through the whole year, but it’s still one helluva start for the young forward. As long as he can plateau at a respectable level, fans should prepare themselves for some more tremendous performances from the Ontario native as 2019-20 rolls along.