Just before stepping onto the ice on opening night, the Flyers decided to lock up an important piece of their defense. They agreed to an eight-year extension with Travis Sanheim that will keep him in Philadelphia through the 2030-31 season. For a team that doesn’t exactly have a set direction, they are making sure they can count on certain pieces to be a part of their future.
Sanheim has spent his entire career with the team as he was drafted by the Flyers with the 17th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, which happened to be located in Philadelphia. He would make his NHL debut a few years later, dressing for his first game on October 5th, 2017 against Los Angeles.
"“Obviously, I’m really excited. It’s a huge day not only for me, but for my family and friends as well,” said Sanheim. “To be drafted not only by Philly, but in Philly, and now to sign a long-term deal here, it means a lot. I love this city, love the fan base and I’m excited to turn this around and get things going. There’s no better place to win than Philly.”"
Sanheim has arguably been the Flyers’ most well-rounded defenseman in recent years. He has registered 20+ points in three of his five seasons with the team, grabbing a career-high nine goals and 35 points in 2018-19. Last season, Sanheim recorded seven goals to go along with 31 points as he appeared in all but two games for Philadelphia. He was tied for fifth in points and tied for first on defense as he posted an identical point total to Ivan Provorov.
Sanheim’s seven goals were 10th on the team and second among all defensemen. He was third in assists but did lead all blueliners in that category. His 24 assists were two off of the career high he also set in 2018-19, his best season in the NHL thus wise, at least looking at point totals.
Overall, Sanheim has appeared in 335 career regular season games and has 29 goals to go along with 116 points. He owns two career power-play goals, and nine points on the man advantage total as it is an area he could potentially see more time in this upcoming season. With Tony DeAngelo’s addition to the team, though, he could be once again fighting for time there.
Sanheim has also scored three overtime goals in his career, becoming the fifth defenseman to own such a total after scoring the game-winner on January 31st. The Manitoba native is entering his sixth season in the NHL and is certainly someone that John Tortorella will be looking to rely on, along with Provorov and DeAngelo. It didn’t take long for the Flyers to come to terms on this deal as it was reported just a few hours before the deal was official.
The Flyers have tied up three of their six defensemen to long-term deals and it will be interesting to see if all three end up serving up their entire contracts in Philadelphia. The top six along carries around $21.525M of the cap and will go up to 23.1M after Sanheim’s extension kicks in next year.
Time will tell if that ends up being a smart decision on Philadelphia’s part. But it was clear that both Sanheim and the Flyers wanted to get a deal done. Even if that came right before the team took the ice for opening night.