Ivan Provorov Trade Should be a Wakeup Call for Travis Sanheim

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, it was pretty clear that the top two defenders on the Philadelphia Flyers were Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim. Rasmus Ristolainen had some major question marks after his first year in Philly. Tony DeAngelo had yet to be traded to Philadelphia. Justin Braun was a pending free agent after finishing his season with the Rangers. Everyone was hoping that Ryan Ellis might be healthy enough to play in the upcoming season. The sixth spot was probably going to go to a young player like Nick Seeler, Cam York, or Ronnie Attard, depending on how training camp went.

One year later and everything has changed. Braun has retired and Ellis looks like his career is done.  Ristolainen emerged as one of the stronger blueliners for the Flyers while Seeler became a fantastic surprise. And now, Provorov has been traded and DeAngelo is being shopped around. The cheese stands alone…or in this case, Sanheim. Sanheim is now the elder statesman of the Flyers defense. Only Sean Couturier and Scott Laughton have been here longer.

Before the season started last year, Sanheim signed an extension. It was an eight year deal that will pay him $6,250,000 a year. This will be the first year his contract extension takes effect. He is the highest paid defenseman on the team and the third highest paid player behind Couturier and Kevin Hayes.

When you are paid that much, a lot is expected of you. His 23 points this year was his lowest since the COVID impacted year of 2019-20 and is the lowest of his six year career since his rookie year. Out of the six defenders who played the most games, his -5 was the third worst behind Provorov and DeAngelo. His average of 20:24 ice time per game was third behind Provorov and DeAngelo.  He played 81 games, being benched for one game by John Tortorella.

It’s not that Sanheim played badly or poorly. He wasn’t reckless like DeAngelo and didn’t have a lot of turnovers. He spent only 40 minutes in the penalty box, so he didn’t play foolishly. He was fourth in blocks on the team, which showed he played smart defensive hockey. So what’s the problem?

That’s the funny part. It’s hard to put your finger on it. There were times he played great. There were many games he just looked lost. Maybe it was who he was paired with. Maybe it was because injuries took their toll on the better players on the team. Maybe it was because there were too many younger players that he had to compensate for. Maybe it was getting adjusted to the new system that Tortorella was implementing. It’s hard to tell.

Whatever the issue is, Sanheim will have to snap out of it and get better quickly. Daniel Briere has shown he has the moxie to pull the trigger on a deal and trade away a player who’s been here a long time and was considered to be a foundational piece.  And if that is definitely the case, and it is, then Sanheim could and should take notice.

Sanheim is still young enough where he can snap out of it and get back on track. At the same time, he is still good enough where the Flyers could get a pretty good return on a trade, but it may involve eating some of that salary. It’s up to him. If this is just a blip on his career and he can learn from it and move forward, then everything is fine. If last year is who he is now, he could find that he is the next one out of town.