Konecny, Sanheim, Couturier: can Flyers veterans lead a playoff push? | PHLY Flyers Podcast

Konecny, Sanheim, Couturier: can Flyers veterans lead a playoff push? | PHLY Flyers Podcast

[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey everybody, how you doing? Well, that’s good. Welcome to PHLY Flyers presented by your local Ford store and Bet 365. My name is Bill Matz. I’m your director of fun and games for the evening. We are live in the Xfinity studio and with me today, it’s the fly by yourself, Kelly Hankle. You are still the flyby, right? I see your name on it. Most days. Most days. Yeah. Sometimes Maddie picks it up for me cuz I’m lazy, but for the most part, we have try to do something around there. We actually have a bunch of fun stuff to get to. There was a trade. It’s a major deal. Uh there was a trade made. We’ll talk about it. Uh but I have a couple of things I want to tell you about. First, as I have been saying all week, it is Big Brothers Big Sisters Month here at PHLY. all across the All City Network. We are raising money. That’s right. Your hard-earned cash, we want it. We’re not just keeping it. We’re We’re It’s going to It’s going to the Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Uh we we’re raising money for them. We’re We have a goal of 50K here at All City. I think we can blow that away just just with PHLY. And leave all of our uh leave all of our sister networks in the dust. Quite honestly, all you got to do to donate, you’re all so very generous with your uh super chats every show. You see right in the chat box right below it, there’s a little donate icon. Click that. Just the money you’re going to spend on super chats, give it to Big Brothers, Big Sisters this week. We would really appreciate it. It would be awesome. Uh speaking of supporting great causes, uh this is money we are keeping for ourselves. We are launching the supporters club. What is the supporters club, Bill? Well, we’re launching the supporters club for people to support PHLY directly. All you have to do is sign up on our YouTube channel. Uh, and all you have to do is sign up on our YouTube channel page for $5 a month. 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Five bucks for the month, 15 bucks for the premium content. I mean, you’re spending more than that in super chats. Anyway, we appreciate all the people who support us, keep us going, and we’re trying to uh we’re trying to bring you a little further into this community, get a little behind thescenes stuff going, make you feel a little bit more of a part of it. So, check that out as well. All right, Hanks. Yep. Um, I really wanted to talk about just the Eagles today, but we have some stuff to talk about, so we can get to that in a little bit because we have a trade. That’s right. Major deal. Big huge deal. The Flyers have traded JR Avon to Seattle for Robert Tucker. No, it’s Tucker Robertson. Uh, not anymore. It’s Tucker Robertson. I was thinking about that the other day when all the Dale Whis stuff was happening and how I refused to call him his real name. I called him Dale Weiss. I was like, he can score a goal and I’ll start calling him by the real name because we were professionals. Uh, but yeah, the Flyers made a little bit of an AHL trade here. Uh, we see J.R. Avon who was kind of I feel like a fan favorite. People were rooting for him. He was a undrafted development camp invite in 2021. He earned an ELC. Put up 18 points in his rookie year with the Phantoms. It’s like, all right, maybe there’s a little something here. Uh, he followed it up last season with 17 points at his sophomore campaign, so maybe not on the developmental path they were hoping for. They get Tucker Robertson, uh, who was a fourth round pick in 2022, so they get a little younger. He’s 510, 190. He had some pretty good scoring numbers in the OHL. Uh he put up a ton of goals there, but it really hasn’t translated in his pro career yet. Uh as I was reading on Broadstreet Hockey.com today, Thomas Williams wrote a story about it. But you see with Peter Burrow, he had a 41 goal season in 68 games, a 90point season. Uh and since turning pro, hasn’t really gone his way. Even spent some time in the ECHL a couple of years ago. Uh, but they’re it’s a minor roster move, right? Something I guess Danny woke up kind of bored today and here we are. Tucker Robertson, a new member of the organization. I was gonna say I think Danny came back from the cottage. He was like, “All right, it’s bird’s day. I got to get got to do something.” Yeah. Got to steal out to make the flyers pay attention to anything. Honestly, the biggest thing about this trade is that I learned that uh J.R. Avon’s name is John Randall. John Randall. Yeah. I I feel like I saw that before and just like did not commit to no idea what his name was. Did not commit that to memory at all. But I guess maybe there’s a little bit of upside there with the scoring he had in the OHL, but you know, a few years pro, it hasn’t really gone his way. So honestly, I mean, like there must be something that they see in Robert Tucker that maybe they think they might get a little reclamation project out of him or something. It’s it’s a little center depth, someone who’s better than J.R. Avon, right? like a 95% AHL move. So, it’s like, “All right, cool. We’ll see what he is.” He’s never played in the NHL to this point, nor has J.R. Avon, but I was just a little surprised because Avon’s one of those names we’ve come to know, like, he’s kind of been a staple of the Phantoms the last couple of years, and now he’s out the door. So, it’s all right. Uh maybe just turning over the uh turning over the organization a bit. There’s a new coach. Perhaps this player plays a style more uh more fitting of what Jon Snowden wants of them. I that’s the only explanation I can think of. It kind of seems like a little bit of a eh deal, but they did something. There was a freaking trade. Yes, there hasn’t been action in about two months and so we are celebrating it here at the Flyers show uh in which we are both wearing eagle shirts. Um I I there it it’s bird’s day. If nothing else, this signifies, Kelly, the season’s actually upon us. It’s true. Like, the GMs are back in their offices. They’ve turned their phones back on. It’s been on do not disturb for two months, and now now there’s actually something going on. So, a couple of days before rookie camp starts, they have made a uh a minor move, but a move a move nonetheless. If you’re looking to make a move, maybe it’s to become a diehard. Maybe you want to become a diehard. Well, now is the time. You’re running out of time to take advantage of the $36 deal. 36 bucks for the year. The football club special. You get the Bird Gang football club shirt. As soon as you sign up, shirt’s yours. Simple as that. You get all the benefits of being a diehard. I tell you about them all the time. Why? Because they’re really great. Access to all of our premium content. We have an all-star roster of writers here at PHLY. You get all of their work. You get access to the Discord. And the Discord is constantly popping. I can’t keep up with the Flyers Discord. Uh Charlie and Kelly spend more time in there than I do. I don’t. Charlie does. I thought you did. I thought you were in the Discord for a while. A while, but I just It’s so fast. It’s Yeah, I can’t. You go away for 5 seconds, you come back, there’s 700 unread messages about like a trade that happened in 1997. And I’m like, I don’t know what’s happening here. If you are constantly looking for people to nerd out about hockey with, guess what? This is for you just for the Discord access, but you get all the other stuff. Discount on merch and events. It is well worth the 36 bucks, especially right now. Kickoff of the Eagles season tonight. Flyers and Sixers around the corner. Phillies playoffs coming up in less than a month. Now’s the time to get all the best coverage in Philadelphia. Become a diehard. 36 bucks. Scan that thing right there. The QR code. Yeah, QR code. And uh that’s that. Nicely done. All right, Kelly. So, we did a little um Did you notice this on the socials this week? A Z one to 99 best player in the city for each number. I did. Um there are some issues here and I while I have been busting Jaime’s balls about it because it’s fun. Jamie Lynch does a great job. There were some misses. I will say I will fall on the sword a little bit here. He did send me the list and tell me to look over it and I kind of gave it a once over. was like, “Yeah, yeah, that’s fine.” Oh, I know who you missed. And yeah, this is what I want to talk about, though, because listen, you don’t have to be the biggest Flyers fan in the world to nail this one. Number 18 goes to a Flyer. All right, that works. Cool. Cool. It’s not Mike Richards. It’s Dale Howard. Now, Kelly, Dale Howard is a Hall of Famer. Sure. He won the Calder Trophy in 82. Uh he played almost 1,200 regular season games. Yeah. 67 of them, the final 67 of them came as a flyer in 1996, 1997. 54 of his 1,400 points came in orange and black. Jamie, come on, man. Now, I real I will take some of the blame here, but it’s Mike Richards. He was the captain of the team that came back from 3 0 chalk pick. He was a captain of this team for three years. He went to a Stanley Cup as the captain. 453 games as a flyer, 50th most ever. 23 short-handed goals as a flyer. Only Howal, Poland, Barber, and Clark had more. 349 points, 26th all time, won every single level. What are we doing here? I am very glad that Jamie recognized Bernie Pont over Jaylen Herz. While Jaylen may take the mantle one day, Bernie backs stopped two champions. Was the K smite winner in both and was the VZO winner both of those years. He’s the most decorated ever. Jaylen needs a second one. Jaylen’s on his way, but he’s not quite there yet. He’s not quite as decorated. He doesn’t have the MVPs. He does have the one Super Bowl MVP. He might surpass him, but I’m glad he chose Bernie. But Mike Richards, man, come on. People don’t respect Mike Richards and it continues to annoy. I just don’t I don’t know, man. Maybe it’s Is it Is it just us? Like, are we the only ones? Are we the only ones left? Like, do we just assume that everyone is like this? Everyone just thinks this. Nah, it can’t be that. That can’t be right. No. I mean, he was he was the ultimate flyer. Like, luckily, they basically directly replaced him with Wayne Simmons, who was like, “Oh, yeah, he he’s exactly that as well.” Yeah. But like Mike Richards, they drafted him and people went next Bobby Clark. Now that was insane. Bobby Clark, one of maybe the most underrated players ever. But his leadership, the way he played the game, it was he was a flyer. He was the face of that organization. Yes. And we went with Dale Howchuk. What What do we think of the rest of the Flyers on this list? The rest of the Flyers. Uh, so Briier gets 48. Hex and Jaru backtoback 27 28. Those are good. We got Dejan there. Yeah. I’m Yeah. So number eight, your guy, our guy, Mark Reky. Um, I’ll accept it. He was really good. I don’t know who else played at number who wore number eight for the other sports team. I really have to think about who was number eight anywhere else. Uh, Barber, of course. Per. Yep. Joerger at 68. Um, I’m always happy to see a flyer and especially in that sea of green there. Seriously. But he spent one year here. And uh, Jordan Milada wears number 68. Oh, he’s really really good. He just, you know, best offensive line in in football just with the Super Bowl. I don’t know. It’s I mean, it’s another Howard Tuck situation where it’s like, yeah, Joerger’s a legend, but like, you know, is he here? Maybe just like that. Can you make the argument that that number is so synonymous with him? That’s true. Like 68. It is like 88 99. Yeah, a casual sports fan knows 68 Yagger. I would say a fair point. That’s a fair point. Maybe not a casual a little bit more than casual sports fan knows 68 jogger. He was a pop culture guy. I think that’s famous. I think that’s a big deal. Is 97 Ronic? 97 is Ronic. 93 is Jake. 88 Laws. All right. Coffee 77 again. Maybe just kind of synonymous. Also, who who else wore? There’s only so many sports where you’re like no one in basketball is wearing 77. I guess Luca does, but like that’s not here. It’s an odd basketball number. Okay, I’ll take coffee. Tip it at 74. It’s just I just just did no one else ever wear 74. There must not be another 74. It’s It’s a shame because you and I are like Owen Tippet supporters or were like listen I want him to be better. I I get mad at him because he disappoints me. And 22. Who’s 22? Is that Canubal? Did we miss 22? I can’t see. Okay. Oh, Tocket. Yeah, of course. Ret is 90. I don’t know why I think 92 because that’s like Rick Tocket played in the late 80s early 90s as 22. It was when he came back and that’s when I saw that’s when we were Yeah. Okay. 22. That makes a ton of sense. I am fine with that. Yes. Uh but yeah, it’s there’s a Jamie did a decent job. It’s a Listen, the anytime you do one of these lists, like you’re just setting yourself up for people yelling at you. So like he did a fine job. That’s I That’s I told him I went into his office today. I was like, “Jame, I’m gonna have to call you out on the show today, but I love you.” He was like, “Dude, I’ve lost sleep over this list. It’s not that big a deal. It really doesn’t matter that much. It was gone in a day, but you know, a day later, I found time to make fun of him for it.” The only thing worse is a ranked list. A ranked list will really get people yelling at you. This time of year, we are trying our best. You know, there’s only baseball going on. Football’s coming back tonight. Thank God there’s something at least for one of our shows to talk about. You know, we we’re 50% half of our shows are in season. Yeah, we did we did a trade. But yeah, I I just I wanted to bring this up with you yesterday because maybe we are just the last two Mike Richards truthers out there. I refuse to believe it cuz like Charlie always says, I always if I could have the time machine, I would keep that team together one more year. Yeah. Like they were in the president’s trophy race until the last month of the season. Everyone hated each other. Maybe you just go away for the summer and come back and figure it out. He would keep Bob, but let the other guys go. He’s a huge Jake fan. He’s a huge Coots fan. I get it. I You and I, I think, are on the same page. Give it one more season. Just let it happen. And it didn’t. Uh, and so maybe people are a little sour about Richards these days. I feel like it’s one of those forgive and forget situations. Like, all right, man. I mean, I can’t be mad at him. I could be a little upset. Like, that’s after that Bruins series where the team clearly quit and got swept. Yeah. I was upset with Mike Richards. Okay. I just didn’t think they I didn’t think he and Carter were handling things maturely, which makes sense cuz they were immature children. Children. Like, of course they were immature. They were kids. Yeah. I am able to see that now. But like at the time, right, in 2011, I was just in college mad. Like that was I was just your job at the time. Like writing for Bleacher Report getting mad about stuff. Uh but now, you know, I’m like, yeah, Mike Richards is one of my three favorite flyers ever, probably. And to exclude him from this list, Jamie, I know you can hear me. You’re on the other you’re on the other side of that wall. I know you can hear me. We are both very upset about it. I’ve never been more angry in my life. But who doesn’t love a great list? List great. We were talking like sometimes you fail upwards. Our best engagement day was this thing. And a lot of it was people just like, “How’d you miss this?” It’s like because it’s 99 numbers. I forgot a couple. Uh but it’s it actually worked out for the better. You don’t want a good list. What’s the point of a good list? Oh, everyone agrees. Cool. You move on. Or you That’s what the summer’s for. You can’t People don’t agree on anything. No, it’s it’s never once happened. All right. I gotta tell you about something that is happening though. That was bad transition. That was great. But March 17th to the 22nd, we’re going to Anaheim, baby. Philly Sports Trips is sending us out west from the 17th to the 22nd of March. We are going to Anaheim to see a Ducks game. We’re going to LA to see a Kings game. Speaking of Mike Richards, we are going to have a watch party for that San Jose game. And Johnlair is coming with us. Sick. Kelly’s going. Bill’s going. Charlie’s going. Brenn is going, you don’t want to be excluded. You want to get in on this trip. I was talking to someone on Blue Sky the other day. He was like, man, it’s just everything is I’m really trying to talk myself out of buying this thing I can’t afford, but I want to go. And I told him, you know what I say about savings? Saving. Exactly. Future you can save. This is this is why we get all the financial uh you know, financial app reads and mine are personalized by saying I’m an idiot. There’s an exclusive. But if you can afford it, you should go. Yeah. Exclusive meet and greet with Brena. You don’t want to miss that. She I think she has the highest approval rating of anyone on. Yeah. I mean, she’s the only one working really in this entire room right now. Uh but yeah, come on out. Philly Sports Trips. They put on a hell of a party. They throw a hell of a trip. We went to Montreal with them last year. It was awesome. This is going to be even better. Johnlair’s going to be there. What else could you possib get? It’s really It’s so good. We were like talking about this trip and like throwing out ideas and I was like, you know who would be dope? Like someone from the Legion of Doom. If we could get any member of the Legion of Doom, that would drive people to go. So, prove me right. Yeah. Go to lphy.com right now and uh put your deposit down. Make sure you come out and on this trip with us, which starts on St. Patty’s Day, which is always fun day for me. All right, let us now throw it to that first ad break. Oh, it’s tonight. It’s tonight, fam. Football is cooking off. Go. Football is kicking off. Go Birds. And you know, you got that friend who wants to have everybody over. He’s got a cool setup. He’s got all the space, but maybe, just maybe, that connection isn’t quite right. Well, that that’s a fan fail right there. You have to see for yourself with Xfinity how to fix this problem. 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For more information, visit your local Ford store. All right, Hanks. So, we got all that stuff out of the way. The huge news of J.R. Avon to Seattle for Tucker Robertson. Yeah. Uh, they did ch What I’ll say I did just think of this. They did turn an undrafted guy into a former for fourth round pick. Value. That is value. Younger maybe. I just just a thought. But what I wanted to talk to you about today are the veterans, our guys and the Travi uh Couture Sanheim and Kknne because we have spent so much time this off season talking about the young guys. Obviously we’re all crazy about Meech, but the prospects as well, guys who could maybe break the break the roster out of camp. younger players taking the next step. But they do have, you know, three guys signed basically forever who are the leaders of this team, the best players on this team, soon to be supplanted by Mishkov, but it hasn’t happened yet. Uh, and I guess he’s probably I would say he’s better than Shan Couttori at this point. I think that’s a pretty easy one to but these guys are kind of going to be just a big as big of a part of this potential playoff push that we’ve heard they kind of want to make as any of the young players I would say because they’re your highest paid players the guys who play the most. So I want to talk a little bit about these three today. It’s so weird that these three are the old guys. The old guys. Yeah. That doesn’t compute. No, like we’re talking about I mean yeah that was a long time ago when they made the Richards and Carter trades. Coots has been here a long freaking time. Longer than anybody else in the city, right? I think he is the longest tenure athlete in the city now. Yeah. After uh after BG retired, I think it became I think it became Shawn Coutureier. And I just want to get an idea of like what our expectations for these three are this season. Okay. And really what we think of them as leaders because they are now it’s them. Yeah. Scott Lton’s gone. Some of the other guys who’ maybe stepped into roles like Joel Farabby. Obviously Jaru’s been gone forever. It’s kind of their show now and we’re all expecting I think Travis Sanheim to get the letter that Lton vacated. So I I want to spend some time on these guys. I want to show short I want to start. I am just not saying words today. I don’t know what the problem is. I’m sorry. Hit the like button if you are enjoying me butcher the English language. Um Sean Couture. Yeah, he’ll be 33 in December. And honestly, I would have guessed older. I feel like we’ve been calling him 35 forever and he’s not there yet. Like he’s really not old. He’s just aged so much in our minds because of the injury and he’s been here for so long. And he has been here since 2011. So yeah, that’s that’s a little while. Uh he put up 15 goals and 45 points last season, over 56% in the faceoff dot. Played uh under 17 and a half minutes a game, which is one of the lowest totals like you know since he turned 20 basically. Um, it was a bounceback year for him though. I look at that points total and what what’s that face? I got to stop reading the chat. Oh, okay. Sorry. Go on. I thought I said something stupid again. No, you never say anything stupid. I say a lot of stupid stuff. Um, Sharp, for instance. That’s funny, though. 15 goals, 45 points. It is a far cry from the 70 point Selki winner we knew for that uh brief stretch prior to the injury when he had really broken out and established himself as a number one center in this league. But if you think back to prior to that breakout 45 points is like what we were begging him for. Now obviously the contract comes into play now and that’s not enough. But I was really encouraged with what we saw out of Couture last year. He was effective with Mishkov. He was able to use his body to get to the net. 15 goals isn’t a huge total, but it’s not as if really anyone on the team scored. Uh it was just really Mishkov. That was it. Him and Forester, they scored all the goals. And I I am cautiously optimistic that he’s going to be able to keep up what he was last season, at least for the immediate future. What he is three years from now, who the hell knows? But coming into this season, how you feeling about Coots? I’m feeling very optimistic. I think what we saw out of him at the end of last season and you also have to remember last season he was clearly not working under the ideal conditions. The coach actively hated him. Um for whatever reason. Very obvious. Yeah. Like vocally publicly did not like him. So, you know, you have to to think that that kind of weighed on him a bit and probably affected his play on the ice. And then the reduced ice time. Obviously, that’s going to be a factor, too. Um, I’m really optimistic that he’s going to be a very effective player for this team. Is he going to be 1C Shan Couttori? No, never again. Like that that’s gone. It’s even if he never got hurt, he’s 33. Exactly. That’s just not what happens, right? Like if Shawn Couttori is our best center, we got a problem. So like, you know, we got problems. This is why they’re constantly trying to address the position. Um, but yeah, I I was very very happy with what I saw from him last year and it made me feel a little bit better. I know we always talk about the contract, but I really don’t think it’s as much of an albatross as people want it to be. Finally, with the cap going up, you’re able to get a little bit of relief and if he can be maybe a little better because that’s Kevin Kursz’s question. He wrote an article today, uh, one question for each player on the team. And uh read the article. I took the questions for these three guys. But his question for Coots is will he be better away from TORS. And he did have one of the more productive. Yes, there’s the three huge seasons uh where he was playing with Jaru. He’s a Selki finalist. He wins one. Other than that, last season, 45 points, one of the best years of his career, right? Do you think he can be better now that he’s one playing for a coach who doesn’t dislike him? We don’t think maybe in a style that suits him a little better like a rush base offense with a guy who was slow when he was 18 who’s now missed a season and a half with a back injury and is in his 30s. Maybe not the best thing for him. Yeah, I do think there’s a possibility he can carry over his level of play from last year, right? And with the new coaching be more productive. You exact you read my mind. Like I think that he’s going to keep up the level, but the conditions are going to be better for him. So like there really is no outcome outside of it’s going to be better than last year. Like didn’t he play fourth line left wing for like three games? Was it the home opener? He dressed as fourthline leftwing. I mean like I don’t think Tak’s going to do that. I think there are positives that could be taken out of the John Tortoella situation. Yeah. Um, what he did with Couturier seemed I don’t want to say cruel because like these are grown-ups, but like it felt unnecessarily unnecessar. Yeah. Like Yeah. Why you being a dick? Like this is why you’re doing this to the guy. He’s been here forever. He you can’t get rid of him. That’s the other thing. It’s like if you’re trying to force him out, you can’t. No one’s taking that contract. Especially while the coach is playing him as a fourth line left winner. And also like I mean obviously I don’t talk to these dudes but Charlie does and Charlie says he’s a really nice guy. What’s your problem dude? Yeah. So I am uh I am cautiously optimistic about what he can be. Now you said if he’s your best center you’re in trouble. Yeah. I think that applies much more to the future this year. You have him with Mishkov again. I think you got to you got to try a bunch of stuff. So I I don’t know. Maybe it ends up there. Um, if for some reason it doesn’t work with Zegris, if Luchenko doesn’t make the team and so you’re not giving that a try, like I think that there needs to be a lot of experimentation with because we’ve got some new guys at center. So the new guys and Mechov, see what sticks. If it ends up being Couturier, I think that’s fine. And I don’t think that that means that he’s our best center. I think that just means that you’re like putting the pieces that you have at your disposal in the best place for the for the good players to succeed. Like that to me would be less about Couttori and more about Mishkov. No, absolutely. Um I think we saw last year some players struggle to keep up with Mishkov mentally. Yes. Like one, it’s not as if Mish is super fast, but he does think super fast. And while they are very different players, they have a high IQ and I think that’s one of the reasons Coots was the most effective center with him last year. And I want to see that continue. I also want to see them on the power play together because I think Coots is one of the few guys who can use his body to get to the net and win a battle behind the net. Not to mention win a faceoff. That’s very important on the power play. And just if they have a not the worst thing you’ve ever seen power play, he’ll score 20 instead of 15 goals. That is just a very correct. So now all of a sudden it’s 50 points and we’re fine, you know, like 45 little low. Oh, 20 and 50. Cool. Yeah. Yeah. Everyone’s happy. I’m happy with that. What is the worst case scenario? Is it he gets hurt again? Regression and injury. Yeah. Like that is I know if it’s regression because like I I really just don’t see that happening unless he gets hurt. Like I feel like any regression would be as the result of injury and the back is just such a bad thing to hurt. Yeah. Everything’s attached to it. Everything’s attached to it. You use it all the time. I’m using mine right now. It’s the majority of your body. Yeah. Exactly. Like back like Oh, okay. If he gets hurt again in the same way at this age, not not good. Yeah. And that’s I think one of the more encouraging things was that he was able to what? He played 70 79 games last year. He was fine. Yeah. That’s pretty decent. Yeah. Like that’s that’s almost all of them. and he finished strong, which was the other issue. Like, he looked okay to start his first year back from injury and then it just fell off a cliff. Like, while yes, John Tordella was a little over the top in his handling of Coots, like it’s not as if that second half of that season wasn’t horrendous. That was a concern going into last year. This year, I think he’s going to be okay. Like, there’s no reason to think he won’t be. Yes, it’s a contact sport. anyone could get hurt. But I I am encouraged by what I saw out of him last year. His ability to play 74 and then 79 games two years in a row. I’ve brought this up a ton of times. He hadn’t played a full season since 2018 19. Now like COVID short seasons, then the injury. Just getting your body back into that probably takes some time. You would think year two went a lot better than year one. I’m excited to see what he can do. Here’s a question I have for you. Do you think that this relatively low time on ice average that he worked out to at the end of the season, do you think that was a factor in the fact that he was able to stay healthy? Like, do you think that maybe limiting him a little bit at this point might be a good way to go? I want to say this about Sanheim as well when we get to him. Like, no. I don’t need Shan Couturehe to be like my best center three years from now. If he is again, like it didn’t work. But I do need him to be somewhat healthy and productive. Yeah. So even if it’s not like for this season backing him off so he can be a little more it’s you look down the line and go well all right man we’re we’re skating on thin ice with him already. Yeah. Maybe protecting him a little with some load management. I’m not saying given you know backto backs off or anything but yeah maybe 17 minutes is just more what he is than the 20-minute guy he was 3 four years ago. You got to manage the loads. Yes. Yes, you do, Kelly. Good for you. You do. But I uh for your game. I wonder like I I would like to I didn’t go through his game log like I wonder how much is like oh he played 20 minutes a bunch but then there were also games it was like yeah the coach the coach gave him fourth line minutes and so that brought brought down his overall average. There probably is a lot of that. I don’t think it happened as much as we’re thinking but it stands out so much when it did. Yeah. Uh but yeah, I do think I think 1718 being the fewest minutes he uh he played since he was what second year in the league. Um it probably did contribute to him being able to stay healthy and be be a little fresher at the end. I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world. No, probably not. Yeah. So that’s uh that’s Coots. I am What would you What is your expectation for him scoring wise this year? Like is 45 points kind of exactly where you would put him? That’s what we wanted out of him for so long. I think you’re on to something with the 50 because I have to believe like I have to for my sanity believe that the power play is going to be better. I just can’t I can’t allow myself to think it could be as bad or worse. It has to be better. And even if it’s just like I don’t know 5% better, he’s going to accidentally score three or four power play goals over the course of the season. So like yeah, I I think 50 is a pretty reasonable expectation if you are living in a universe in which the Flyers have a functional power play. If he could score 20 goals and 50 points, I think that is I think it’s well within reach just because of all the things we said. like, hey, if he’s playing with Meech and Meech is suddenly an 8090 point player, as we’re thinking and hoping he is, the guys who are on the ice with him are going to pick up more points. Like, that’s just the way that’s going to work if uh he has that breakout season and the power play. So, I’m going to go with 20 goals, 50 points over 55% in the faceoff circle. That’s what I need out of him. Yeah, the faceoffs are the kind of the biggest thing. He’s the only guy who can win a face. I guess D’Vorak now he’s decent. But Coots, he is still a really good faceoff guy. He did not lose that. Another good sign. Like that’s a lot of bending of the back and 56% last year. I will take that. Yeah, I would imagine like all of that fighting for the puck, it’s probably hard on your back and he did just fine. Yeah. So, I am uh I’m going to go with 20 and I think that’s reasonable. It’s optimistic, but easily within reach. All right, let’s go to TK because I have such trouble categorizing the season Travis Kneknney had last year. It was interesting. He uh he’s 28 years old. He’ll be famously 29 on 311 day. Um 24 goals, 76 points. The 76 points were a careerhigh. The 52 assists were a careerhigh. Averaged a careerhigh in time on ice. But the 24 goals were a bit of a disappointment coming off back-to-back 30- goal years. You know, he’s hit exactly 24 four times in his nine-year career. That’s weird. He had those three years in a row where he hit 24 and then like it’s just odd. Like never 26, never 28, just always 24 and then just jumped right to 30 a couple of years. But would you categorize last season as a down year? Like 50 assists is really freaking good, especially for a team that doesn’t score that much. That’s the That’s the other part of it. Who’s he passing? Like it was he was involved in every goal that they scored evidently. Looking at Forester and Mishkov and TK all in the mid20s like oh did did no one else score? Like was it just them? And then Tippet, you know, Tippet got his 20. Um he did great. We might talk about Tippet later. Uh, but like would you call it a down year last year? A little bit. I think I think that heater that he went on, was that last season? The first half of this year, he had 20 goals in 41 games. Okay. Yeah, you know how I am with time. Um, yeah, like him. I don’t know if it was So, it was one of those things. We talk about this all the time. We’re like guys get off to a super hot start and then it kind of fades away and then that back half that’s not as good as the front half makes you think, “Oh, this is a down year. Crappy season, didn’t do well.” Whereas like if he had just like evenly spread it or like started slow and then got super hot at the end, we’d be talking about like what a sick year he had or something. I don’t know. A lot of it’s all really relative. Yeah. Tyson Forester, one more goal than him last year. It’s like what a year, what a second half he had. It’s like, well, he didn’t score at all in the first half. Like, that’s not good, right? But yeah, no, it is the that does stick in our minds more. Four goals in the final 41 games, though. Yeah, it’s not great. That is a real real drop off. Like, you can be on a PDO heater where just everything you shoot at the net is going in. But it can’t go to zero after that. He wasn’t hurt, right? Cuz I know we talked about that a lot. I do think he got banged up at one point, but I don’t think it was like I mean, he went white. He he he went right to Worlds. Yeah. And we did never heard about a surgery or anything. So like I was using that excuse for him for a while cuz I was I couldn’t come up with any other reason that a guy who was on pace for 40 suddenly wasn’t going to crack 25. And I just think he had I don’t know what happened. He just couldn’t put the puck in the net. So the assist stayed up though. Yeah. Like the assist kept coming. And that that gets to like a conversation of like, okay, so he wasn’t scoring, but he was still a major part of the scoring, you know what I mean? Like it’s not like he was just dead on the ice. He was still a factor in games. He was still a a major part of the offense. He just wasn’t scoring the goals himself. So, I think if you look at it that way, you you can talk yourself into thinking that he had a pretty nice season. And it’s pretty clear from I think the assist number specifically that he’s like an extremely important cog in the offensive machine of this team and you can’t really afford to lose him. Um and I think that’s important just because I know like a lot of like you and I were kind of like they should probably trade him. Like it probably would have been a good idea for them to trade him. They didn’t. They signed him and so now you’re stuck with him. and seeing that kind of production I think bodess well for the future because I feel like that kind of play doesn’t drop off when you get older. You know what I mean? That’s the like the crashing the net like that kind of stuff drops off but like being able to distribute the puck to the young guys that can score that’s probably not going to drop off. Yeah. Like him being a really rush based player and scoring so much on the rush like one day that might not be there. Being able to contribute in other ways is huge. And there’s also just the way we talked about special teams with Coots, like, oh yeah, five more power play goals and suddenly he had 20 and 50 and everything’s cool. Yeah. You look at the special teams numbers for TK, specifically the short-handed goals. He had nine short-handed goals in the uh previous two seasons combined, just one last year. And sometimes that just happens like for guys, even for guys who score a ton of shorties. I just brought up Mike Richard’s numbers. uh his career short-handed goals, three, four, five, seven, and then all of a sudden one and then three and four again. Yeah. Like maybe it’s just as simple as that. A few shorties and it’s like all right, maybe he didn’t hit 30, but 28 looks a lot better than 24 and we’re all happy. Yes. You know, and maybe it’s just as simple as that. Uh Kevin Kurs’s question and then we will uh we’ll do the ad break. Brent, um should he play on the same line as Mishkov? That was the actual question Kurt posted about uh posed about connect. I’m having trouble like I do think there should be a lot of experimentation like you said, but there is in my head right now. Now listen, camp battles and injuries and stuff will shake it up. Like the Kates line that was really effective, right? And Couturier with Mishkov and Kknne was also pretty damn good for a lot of the year. It was it fell off at one point, but then it came back just as strong. I would start with that. I There’s going to be moving pieces. That’s what happens. But I would definitely start with those two together again. I I think you kind of have to. I mean, starting from what worked last season as a new coach probably makes a lot of sense. Um, that said, now you have like I feel like the Zegris edition really kind of shakes up the idea that like the lines from last year are going to be the best possible combinations. I think you’re going to have to really mix it up, but starting with him on the same line as me, not a bad idea. Yeah. And in my head, the lines are those two lines carrying over from last year. Yeah. And then Zegris centering D’vorak and Tippet. I think those are the best possible combinations for the top nine and uh we’ll see what happens with Bump or Luchenko or anything, but that’s what I think. So, yeah, to answer that question, yeah, I think so. All right, we’ll uh do a little bit more on TK in a minute, but first I got to tell you about Ace at Ace Hardware Home Services. They got that. If you have an outlet you said you’d fix last summer, guess what, man? It’s been like 14 months. One more YouTube tutorial isn’t going to do it. It’s not h helping. Watching this show on YouTube, great. But you’re not going to figure out how to become an electrician just watching YouTube. That’s why you got to call the pros at Ace Hardware Home Services. Because not only do they have the tools to get the job done, but they’ve got the person to do the job as well. 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That’s that’s the whole re No, I actually have to do the thing. Um I know what I’m doing post show. Are you craving the perfect snack that satisfies your hunger and provides the right amount of protein to fulfill your body’s daily needs? Well, we’ve got the solution for you. It’s Righteous Felon beef jerky and meat sticks. Righteous Felon traces its roots back to the hallways of Downingtown Middle School and was officially launched by lifelong friends in their apartment kitchen after college. The Exon, PA based company has been making all naturatural premium quality better for you meat snacks for over a decade and they’ve evolved into the region’s preeeminent jerky brand. They’ve got really cool packaging. The flavors are bold and tanalyzing. The textures, oh, they are nice and soft. Uh very, very tender. Uh, without question, the best meat snacks around. And I’m telling you, I love meat snacks. I have been scarfing these. Uh, Rache Felon, you might need to send us another sample pack. Just telling you. Uh, they’re also available at Waw Wa where they’re running a two bags for $10. Best value you’ll see anywhere deal. You have to check them out. Uh, and if you’re the kind of person who wants a deal and snacks delivered to your doorstep, you can order online at righteousfelon.com using discount code phy20 for 20% off. They have all kinds of cool variety packs and bundles on the site. So, it’s also the perfect gift for that special meat snack lover in your life. Again, it’s discount code phy 20 for 20% off your order on righteousfelon.com. We love the meat snacks here. I personally love a meat snack. Kelly, if you had to put money on 24 goals or 30 or more goals, what would you bet on for TK this year? Oo, I’m I’m I’m entering my typical September psychosis. September optimism. So, I’m g I’m going over. I would go over as well. And listen, he’s been a fast starter and maybe trailing off a little bit has been an issue for him over the last few years, but I think he has extra incentive to get out to a great start. Uh he wasn’t awesome at the Four Nations and yeah, he got invited to the Olympic camp, but an awesome start to this season, oh yeah, could help push him over, you know, into maybe consideration to play for Canada in the actual Olympics. That’s a really good point. That could be a real motivating factor for him. I hadn’t considered that, but that’s a very good point because, you know, after getting that little taste at Worlds that both the Trevi want that real bad. That’s he went to Worlds. You can tell it’s like not a great end to the season for TK. You know, like wasn’t hurt, wasn’t on a great scoring pace and went right to Worlds, wanted to try to make up for Four Nations. He is clearly motivated to try to make this Olympic roster. And I think that bodess well for the go goal total. I would guess he’s back in that 30 range again. I don’t know if he’s going to have 50 assists and be a point a game player, but I think it kind of comes back to he’s a 30 goal guy again. I think you’re right. I’ll be surprised if you’re not. That’s what I like to say. As usual, I’m surprised every time I’m right about anything. Oh boy. All right. Now, the other half of the Travi, Travis Sanheim, the team’s number one defenseman, uh, eight goals and 30 points last year, played 24 and a half minutes. He put up 14 fewer points uh than he did the year prior when he set a career high, which I the team doesn’t score. He doesn’t really play on the power play. We’ll get into his minutes in a minute. But how would you assess Sanheim’s season? I feel like it started well and then I mean, if you’re just looking at points, I guess I could see being a little bit disappointed, but I think that he was obviously far and away the team’s best defenseman. far. He played practically half of every game reliably and pretty well. And so, like, it’s really hard for me to see what he did on defense and be upset about it. Would more points be better? Sure, more points is always better, but are an easy thing to judge. 27 in the first 57 games, three in the final 25. I think it’s like he needs to be moving the puck more and that should result in more goals for the team. But he’s not going to be judged on that unless he gets on the power play. But I don’t see that happening because they have other guys invested in it. And also he plays more minutes than anyone already. He has to come off the ice at some point. Exactly. Yeah. I don’t know if he needs more minutes. I actually what we talked about with Couturier, I do worry that you are going to break Travis Sanheim if you continue to play him 25 minutes a night. On one hand, he’ll be ready to do it when they need it in the playoffs where maybe you shorten that bench, but also like I don’t need him to be this right now. Like other than just doing it because it gives you the best chance to win every night and that is important, but like also I don’t know. Would it kill you to give Jamie Dale a few more minutes to get a few more reps out there? Like would that be a bad thing? you know, like if other guys just took a little bit of that time off of his plate because these uh time on ice numbers uh for the last two seasons, Hanks, since they got rid of Proverb, are insane. Uh over the last two years, Sanheim’s played over 3,900 minutes. It’s the fifth most in the NHL. Dang. Behind only Kale Mar, John Carlson, Brock Faber, and Mike Mat. At even strength, he has played more minutes than anybody. Uh that’s wild. 33 49 39. It’s 4 minutes and 9 seconds more than Josh Josh Moresy. Like these are this is an insane workload for basically anybody. And that’s kind of like, oh yeah, he doesn’t score. Well, none of these minutes are on the power play. Like when you look at the top 10 list, he gets the fewest power play minutes of any of these guys. I would like to see it backed off a little bit. And that kind of addresses Kursz’s question. Can he avoid sag late in the season? What if it’s 22 and a2 minutes instead of 24 and a half minutes? That’s the thing. Like I don’t know if you can expect him not to sag late in the season if they’re continuing to play him this much. And I I’m wondering like if the pocket factor could come into play here. Like perhaps Taket will trust other defenseman more than John Tordella did and not feel like he has to play Travis Sanheim every third minute of the game. Um maybe the defense will be a little bit better. Maybe the way that Tak coaches them will have them playing better team defense and then maybe you don’t need to rely on Sanheim so much. I think that there’s a lot of factors that could come into play here. Um, but I I do think that you can avoid him being tired at the end of the season by simply not making him tired at the end of the season. Like that seems like a little bit. Yeah, a little bit. Like obviously he’s going to play more minutes than anyone else. He’s the number one defenseman. Obviously, yes, he’s going to be the guy playing the most minutes. He doesn’t need to be the guy playing the most minutes in the league. Like maybe that maybe if we back off of that a little bit. Like he’s playing more than Kale Mar. That’s insane. Like not in total, but in on at even strength he is playing considerably more than Kale Mar, you know? Yeah. That’s the thing. Kale Mar only gets more minutes because he’s on the power play. Yeah. Because like that teams commit a ton of penalties against that team because they’re super good. You know, like he gets a lot of that time, right? like it’s I would like to see it backed off a little and in terms of his production while points are not the most important thing for him. That’s maybe that was our expectation when he came into the league but that was you know he was drafted 11 years ago now like he’s not going to be a 40 50 60 point defenseman year in and year out. I will say I am a little interested to see a change in uh the breakout with Takit. I think defensemen are going to skate the puck a little more. Yeah, it seemed like under Truella because it was such a rush based offense that it was get the puck, block the shot, get the puck up to the wingers who are breaking, we’re going to try to get a twoon one. That was basically the whole philosophy. Yeah. If they’re going to be a more possessionbased team, I think that could result in him just taking the puck out himself a lot more. And if you’re doing that, you’re going to score a little bit more. Like that’s just one will probably go with the other. So, I do think we could see a little bit of a bump in his production, but I also just don’t expect him to get any power play time unless there’s several injuries. Like, they had Rasmus Ralin on it last year instead of him at one point, you know? That’s only because different coach, but and that was like Rusto’s thing in Buffalo. I could see why they tried it, but yeah, Jack Eel doesn’t play for this team though. I know. Yeah, not yet. I I can see maybe him getting to that like 40 point mark, but I don’t think it’s going to be him becoming Oh, man. He’s gonna get some he’s gonna get some Norris votes like No. Yeah. I just don’t I don’t need him to be that guy really. No, they just need someone better than him. Yeah, exactly. Then he’d be in the perfect position, right? He would be if they had one guy better than him, they would be in a great position. But as it is, he’s kind of just out there. Listen, he’s putting in the work. I I commend him for it. he’s playing more than freaking anybody. Uh but like if they could back it off a little and maybe give him a little bit more opportunity to create some offense because that’s the other thing is when you’re playing half the game, you maybe don’t have all the energy in the world to join the rush in the third period, you know, maybe that affects the scoring numbers as well. So I think that in total could kind of be his best case scenario. Play a little bit less and be more effective in those minutes deeper into the season. That’s what I would like to see. I would like to see them back it off a little bit, you know, as much as they can really and then see what happens because I I do think that there’s just no avoiding when you’re playing that many minutes for the entire length of the season. There’s just no way you’re not going to be gassed at the end of the year. And if this is a team that has aims on playoffs, like you can’t have your best defenseman gassed because that’s the thing. Then he has to play 25 minutes. Exactly. He’s got no choice. that’s what the playoffs are and it’s going to be harder 25 minutes. So, it’s like, you know, maybe now is the time as the team starts to try to transition into a playoff team that you start trying to back it off a little bit and figure out how to fill in that gap with what you’ve got or what you might have coming and then, you know, figure it out from there. I’ve been lukewarm on Sanheim for a lot of his tenure here. Uh, I got to say though, I’m really rooting for him to make the Olympic team. That would be so cool. Very cool for him. Like that’s got to feel and like it’s Canada. Like this isn’t Oh yeah. Well, like obviously Risto is going. Who else? Like you know it’s freaking Canada. It’s their game. Yes. And for him to like have this fin like made it moment would be very cool for him. And listen, you look at all this like he’s not a guy who needs power play time. He can play either side. Obviously he has the stamina to take huge minutes. Mhm. I It It really sounds like he’s going to make the team. Do you worry that that might ruin his Flyer season? It’s always The boys are going to go hard at these Olympics. It’s been a long time since they’ve been there. Yeah, this is going to be some really good hype. It’s going to be so good. No, I’m definitely do some stuff for the Olympics. It’s going to be so fun. Anyway, we have like three weeks off. Like there’s no Flyers games for No, right. Yeah, maybe take a little trip in there. But I definitely want to do like maybe a postgame or two, especially if TK and Sanheim are in it. Like we’ll do something. Oh, for sure. Yeah. Figure something out. Watch party or something. Because this season isn’t super important to me. Like in 2010, I was like, I don’t care. I I Oh, great. Sydney Crosby a gold medal. Like did not care because I wanted the Flyers to win the cup. Since that’s not a realistic expectation, I know you’re expecting it, but like it doesn’t bother me as much, but it is like, oh, we’re talking about backing off his minutes and he’s going to play a couple extra weeks of games. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, they deserve it. I’m super psyched about this. Bigger ice surface. It’s not like it’s the NHL out there. Like, it’s the Olympics. It’s kind of a no contact sport, right? A little bit. Yeah. It’s not the four nations where they’re just beating each other up. I can’t believe how good that tournament was. So freaking good. But yeah, I I think best case scenario, worst is maybe that’s the worst is he makes the Olympics and after that it’s a downward spiral. Yeah, I mean that could theoretically happen. Um but like you said, I this season isn’t the one, so it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. Yeah, I think I’m just like set on what he is. Like I I don’t think there is a best or worst case scenario for Travis Stanhee. It just is. Yeah, that’s what he is. He’s gonna play 24 minutes and they’re probably gonna go okay. Like that’s that’s that’s Travis Sanheim and that is an important thing to have on a team. Um coaches love a reliable dude. That’s rely I was going to said no that’s availability but he’s available too. He’s played as many he’s played more games than any flyer over the last three years. Uh all right. Now I want to talk about the leadership a little bit. Only a few minutes. Um we’re expecting Sanheim to get the A. I assume uh they made I think it was John Bailey wrote the piece like oh it’s him and Couttori at the Xbox unveiling. So perhaps that’s a sign. I I was like oh maybe just a sign they’re in town. I was going to say they’re they’re the two that are here. But like it it would make sense like okay these are your veteran guys kind of the two of the faces of the team. Okay they’re here. Um I the leadership aspect though. I’m one thing I’m very interested to see is how much they this team misses Lton in the locker room. Yeah, it’s going to be interesting. Um because we did hear a lot from Charlie that he was very much the guy that like brought everyone together. Um the older guys, the younger guys. He was kind of the bridge between the two. Yeah. Yeah. You know, he he was the one making sure nobody was feeling left out. Um so it’ll be interesting with, you know, perhaps a couple of new guys on the team without the glue guy. How is that going to work? I don’t I will say like his main thing seemed to be like he was that conduit between the coach and the team that like clearly Sean Couture couldn’t be because the coach didn’t like him like didn’t talk to him. So someone had to do it like if his thing was getting everybody on board like maybe not the social aspect but like who he was in the locker room maybe just because there’s no more Tortoella like that won’t be as necessary. No, you’re you’re right. I don’t think that they’re going to need a go-between for Tucket given what we’ve heard about him as a coach. So, that’s a good thing. I wanted to bring up Owen Tippet real quick before we hit overtime. I think we have at least one super chat. Um, Owen Tippet is 26. He’ll turn 27 uh during the Olympic break. I’m not going to say that month because it seems like it’s the only month I ever have to pronounce. Uh, February, do we consider him a veteran? I didn’t until you just said these words out loud. Um, and now I’m wondering if I have to. He’s played 232 games as a flyer over the last three years. Only Sanheim 244 has been in the lineup more. He has been the most consistent at least in the lineup guy amongst the forwards, second most on the team. We’ve heard I think Charlie has mentioned like Tippet actually said, “Okay, you know, Lton’s gone and Joel Farabby was kind of one of those guys. I want to step up and maybe assume a little bit more of a leadership role.” Okay. I think that would be really huge for him. Like to have a little bit more ownership of the team. Are you suggesting he get an A? No. No. Just be a like just be be a guy. At this point now with what the team is, he’s closer to veteran than young guy. Yeah. Like he’s got the long-term deal. He’s played as many games as anybody over the last three years. I kind of think he has to be one of those guys. And before we finish this conversation, we’re headed to overtime. Go to all phakes me laugh every time. go to all phy.com to keep watching. Uh yeah, like if if he’s able to assume that I I think that could be useful. They have lost some guys like we mentioned. Like maybe that’s another way he could make himself useful to this team. Yeah, maybe he can take over kind of like that role because Farab was kind of like the social director. Like everyone stayed at his house apparently. Like he was like That’s right. You know, every time that you saw a group of Flyers out anywhere, like at a Phillies game or at the beach or whatever, it was always fair to be there in the middle of it all. So, like maybe Tippet can become that kind of guy like like the lot and role of bringing everyone together and and more of like a social leader, which I I do think is important. I think it’s important that these dudes like each other. Yeah. And if he can kind of assume that role, I think that’s probably a good space for him to occupy because it’s it’s not as high stakes as being, you know, one of the official leaders of the team. And it might fit his personality a little bit more because I think Charlie’s told us he’s kind of like more of a quiet guy. More of a standoffish like I get I guess I just get a little bit of Douggee Hamilton vibes. Yeah. Where it’s like just more reserved. Just more of a reserved guy. Charlie Charlie has said he’s not like alpha jock. Like that’s not the kind of guy he is. And there’s all sorts of different personalities in locker rooms. I would like to see him like I want him to be more assertive on the ice and being more assertive in the locker room would maybe be a step in that direction. I think you’re right. All right. Um do you think Nick Cer could be in the running for an A that we think Sanheim’s going to get? I don’t think so. Only because like is Nick Cer going to be here all that much longer? I don’t think he would get it like instead of Sanheim. The one thing I thought of was like the way they’ve done the alternating like on the road you get it and I get it like that sort of thing. Yeah, they’ve done that in the past. It was just something I thought of cuz he is kind of like the backbone of this like he’s the guts of this team. So, this is one of those things where I feel like the actual letters are more like symbolic rewards for particular guys, whereas like being an actual leader doesn’t really require you to be named to the leader the leadership group. I’m sure Nick Cer seems like a guy that’s probably doing some yelling in the locker room and things aren’t going well. Um, it seems like in a good way. I mean, it seems like he’s yelling constantly, right? He’s either hunched over in pain or yelling. Yeah. So, I would imagine he’s already a leader and doesn’t really need to be given a letter to show that. And I I think that like when you think about earning a letter, I think that Sanheim has done that more than Seal. And I just think it makes sense like for those three to be the guys. Yes. Because they are going to be here till the end of time. They’re not going anywhere. Nope. Sanheim has already said, “I’m not waving. No one would take Coots.” And TK, they want him. You know, exactly. Like these are the guys. These are the guys who are going to be here and they’re all decent. Like it’s not as if these guys are terrible. No, they’re good players. I am a little bit more optimistic about the veteran leadership group than I was like before I sat down and thought about this today. I sat down. I was like, “Oh man, like are these guys good enough as you know what? I think they could all play a really good role just in terms of being dudes who they haven’t been on big playoff runs, but they’ve dealt with a lot of crap. They sure have. They’ve dealt with how many GMs and coaches and they’ve been through wars together. They survived John Tortoella. They survived co together. Like these were the guys who were, you know, like in the bubble together when they actually were in the playoffs that one time. Uh so I I think I’m overall I’m starting to get that excitement about what this season could be. still worried about the goalending, but I’m my optimism is building that this season could at least be like more fun than last year because only Mishkav was fun last year. Yeah, I’m ignoring the goalending until I can’t ignore it anymore. Just pretend it’s not a problem. Everything else very excited about it. All right, let’s hit that super chat. I think we have just the one someone Didn’t this happen last time? Like one person figured out how to send the super chats instead of donating? Donate the Big Brothers Big Sisters. I just realized YouTube is back to using people’s actual names and not the weird ads. Yeah, you can actually see what their names are. From David Shub, uh, not sure how to prove it, but Sanheim takes takes dumb game losing stick penalties. Wish he’d just play the body instead of hooking slashing. I think you got a a game tracking project on your hands, bud. Go back and watch all of them and see if you’re correct. I do feel like part of the he’s slowing down. He might be a little tired last year was like he’s reaching a little bit more. certainly do that. I mean, yeah, you’re hunched over and you’re you can’t just get shoulder on the chest, so you’re maybe you’re a little behind and you reach. I do think that may have been part of it, Le, I don’t think you’re uh I I I don’t think you’re making it up, David. All right, that is all the time we have for you on PHLY Flyers today. Thank you all for listening. Thank you for hanging out. If you haven’t already, hit the follow button, subscribe right here on YouTube, maybe even uh maybe even think about becoming well, what’s the thing called? supporters club. Supporters club. Maybe even think about becoming a member of the supporters club. We have so many inside jokes. It’s going to be really cool. We’re gonna have some uh bonus content for you. Behind the scenes stuff. Check that out. Um make sure you hit the like button. 104 likes. That’s okay. But yesterday got 286 and people were mad at us yesterday. So like let’s boost that number up. Let’s boost that number up because we have to beat Charlie’s shows. That’s the goal every day this week. Uh follow us on all the socials. Are you mimicking my hand motions? Don’t tell Charlie we said that. By the way, follow us on all the socials. We’re phy_flyers on Twitter and follow the podcast wherever you get those. Just search PHLY Flyers. I am Bill Matz. That’s Kelly Hankle. Until tomorrow, go birds [Applause] like the mayor.

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We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the Philadelphia Flyers’ young NHLers and prospects recently- Matvei Michkov, Jett Luchanko, Jamie Drysdale and the rest of the future of the franchise.

But what about the 3 longest-tenured Flyers who are all but guaranteed to be here, based on their long-term contracts?

Bill & Kelly discuss their expectations for Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim’s roles as this rebuild looks to turn a corner. PLUS, DANNY MADE A TRADE!

00:00 – Intro
1:13 – Big Brothers Big Sisters Month!
2:14 – NEW SUPPORTERS CLUB!
3:52 – Flyers acquire Tucker Robertson from Kraken
7:42 – DIEHARD DEAL!
9:00 – PHLY’s Best Athlete For Every Jersey Number
17:21 – ROAD TRIP TO ANAHEIM!
21:55 – Can Flyers veterans lead a playoff push?
23:40 – Can Sean Couturier lead a playoff push?
35:51 – Can Travis Konecny lead a playoff push?
45:21 – Can Travis Konecny lead a playoff push? continued
46:57 – Can Travis Sanheim lead a playoff push?
56:50 – Who will get the “A”? How much will they miss Scott Laughton?
58:25 – Is Owen Tippett considered a veteran?
1:01:17 – Could Nick Seeler get the A?
1:03:52 – Super chats

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