Travis Sanheim continues to make his presence known with the Philadelphia Flyers. While they still can't figure out how to score consistently as a team, Sanheim continues to be a bright spot at the blue line, having now surpassed Shayne Gostisbehere to take fifth all-time in points among Flyers' defensemen.
Sanheim took fifth-place all to himself in Thursday's 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues. It happened in overtime, when Sanheim scored the game-winning goal with helpers from Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier, helping the Flyers to stay within striking distance of their Metropolitan rivals in what has become a competitive division.
He now has 220 points and 56 goals across 598 games in a Flyers uniform, and it took him just eight and a quarter seasons to snag fifth on the all-time list. Now, Sanheim will set his sights on Tom Bladon, who notched 230 points throughout his time in a Flyers uniform.
Travis Sanheim and his quest to become one of the Philadelphia Flyers' all-time greats
You can already count Sanheim as one of the best defensemen to play in Philadelphia, but if he passes someone like Bladon, he did something special. Bladon played for the Flyers during the team's early years between 1972-73 and 1977-78, and he put up those 230 points and 67 goals in just 463 games. Sanheim won't pass Bladon from a points-per-game standpoint, but he will likely move up to fourth all-time in 2025-26.
Kimmo Timonen sits in third place with 270 points, so it may take Sanheim at least another season to reach him. Timonen didn't come to the Flyers until his age-32 season, but he was productive all the way until his age-38 campaign in 2013-14.
Eric Desjardins clocks in at number two, and he finished his Flyers career with 396 points and 93 goals in 738 games. He was so good that he finished his career with 0.538 points per game with Philadelphia. If Sanheim plans on passing Desjardins, he'll need to stay in Philadelphia for a while.
Finally, Mark Howe sits atop the list with 480 points and 138 goals. He's the only defenseman in Flyers history to find the net 100 times with the team, and in 1985-86, he finished the year with 82 points in 77 contests. Remarkable, and Sanheim will more than have his work cut out for him to pass Howe.
Travis Sanheim must remain a staple for the Flyers ongoing rebuild
With seven points and two goals in 19 games this season, Travis Sanheim's production has been solid, but there's definitely room to grow. But he's also part of a Flyers team that has been defense-first all season, often scoring just enough to win games and reach a 0.605 points-per-game percentage, which is great, considering they were supposed to be on the bottom rung this season.
They will keep leaning on players like Sanheim to continue their upward trajectory this season, and he's most likely going to stick around for the long haul since he's under contract until 2031. Should the Flyers start figuring things out when they have the puck, Sanheim will benefit more than most defensemen on this team.
So, look for him to pass up at least one, if not a couple more Flyers blueliners on the all-time points list in the near future. If he can get there, Sanheim will, without a doubt, solidify his status as one of the Flyers' all-time greats.