Travis Konecny is quietly one of the greatest Flyers of all time. He has 511 career points as a Flyer, becoming just the 17th player in the history of the franchise to do so. He currently sits at 16th place, having moved ahead of head coach Rick Tocchet (508) this past week. There is a good chance he could pass Reggie Leach (514) and Gary Dornhoeffer (518) by the end of January, and reasonable he could pass Simon Gagne (535) by season's end.
His 210 goals place him at 15th all-time, and he is just one shy of teammate Sean Couturier's 211. If he scores 30 goals this season, Konecny will pass Rod Brind'Amour (235) for 11th all-time. He has a legit chance, permitting he stays healthy, of becoming the all-time goal scorer for the Flyers. Twice, he has represented the Flyers in the NHL All-Star Game.
And yet...
Despite all of this, Konecny never, ever gets the league-wide respect he deserves. There is a good reason for this. Considering that, since Claude Giroux left, he's been the Flyers' only consistent scorer, it's easy to focus on. Think about that. He's scored no less than 24 goals in all but three of his nine previous seasons in the NHL (and remember, two of those were COVID-shortened seasons). For most of those years, he's been the primary focal point of this offense, and he still can rip 24+ goals a year. He was also hindered a bit when Alain Vigneault didn't know how to employ his talent.
But when it comes to league-wide recognition, he's not held in the same regard as some of the other marquee players. True, he's not a Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby. He doesn't need to be. One year, he was the most lethal defender on the penalty kill, scoring a league high six shorthanded goals. For some reason, the team backed off on that in the two years since.
Konecny is a multifaceted player whose true skill set doesn't always show up on the stat sheet. Perhaps if he hailed from Germany or Sweden or Finland or Czechia, he'd be assured a starting spot. In a country like Canada that is loaded with stars, it would be hard to crack that roster. Had he been American, he most likely would've made it. After all, he was a member of Team Canada during last year's 4 Nations Tournament, but played in just two games.
The rest of the league, and heck, even Canada, may not fully appreciate what Konecny can do. There are always snubs for every sport for all-stars, hall of fame consideration, and awards. Someday, Konency will get his due. While playing for Team Canada would be a great honor, it would be a greater honor seeing him lift up Lord Stanley's Cup on a bus moving down Broad Street.