Former Philadelphia Flyers beat writer and Daily Faceoff insider Frank Seravalli has chimed in recently about the possibility surrounding trades involving several Flyers players like Kevin Hayes, Carter Hart, and Travis Konecny.
He just recently posted his updated trade targets heading into the draft and the free agent window and he included 6 players from Philadelphia in Hayes, Konecny, Hart, Scott Laughton, Tony DeAngelo, and perhaps surprisingly enough, Travis Sanheim.
Sanheim’s contract seems very improbable to move, however as Seravalli reported, it’s quite possible that the Flyers actually find a team that’s willing to bite on the defenseman before his full no-trade-clause kicks in on the 1st of July.
One of Chuck Fletcher’s parting gifts as general manager of the team was signing Sanheim to the egregious 8-year extension hours before puck-drop for the season opener. Sanheim had just come off a resurgent second half in 2021-22 that earned him the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the Flyers top defenseman during the regular season. Both sides didn’t want the contract to linger during the season and they found some room just before the 2022-23 campaign was set to kick off.
Sanheim falls to the 36th spot in his 40-man ranking, however he writes that:
“Sanheim hasn’t yet begun an eight-year, $50 million pact signed by Chuck Fletcher last October on the eve of the regular season. Given where the Flyers are heading, it makes almost zero sense to pay a defenseman for eight years through his 35th birthday. The big question: Given the thin free agent crop, would a team sign Sanheim to that contract if he hit the free agent market? The answer is likely yes, as it will look more and more reasonable as the cap continues to increase. What could the Flyers get? The value may be in not having Sanheim on their books at all. The play would be to move Sanheim before his full ‘no-trade’ clause kicks in on July 1.”
Citing a few reasons that a trade could actually happen is that 1) The Flyers are not expecting a big return considering the term and annual salary, 2) The free agent market for defensemen is extremely thin, so much so that Dmitry Orlov is the best free agent defenseman available, and 3) His contract is on par with market value, stating that a team or two would’ve signed him to this deal – or a similar one – if he were a free agent.
The volatility of the free agent market might do the Flyers some good. On the open market, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, John Klingberg, Matt Dumba, Erik Johnson, Shayne Gostisbehere, Oscar Klefbom, Brian Dumoulin, and Ian Cole, among others, are available. As Seravalli pointed out, it’s not a great class for defensemen, which could intrigue a few teams to inquire and perhaps snag Sanheim from Philadelphia.
It’s been a roller-coaster of a ride for the former first round pick from the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. He’s played in 6 seasons since 2017-18, has had 1 good season from start to finish in 2018-19, had a great second half in 2021-22, and a relatively decent performance in 2019-20. His rookie year was okay – as expected – and he struggled in both 2020-21 and 2022-23.
As we all remember, he started the season with 0 goals and 3 assists in his first 22 games. After Alain Vigneault was fired, he scored 7 goals and 28 points in the following 52 games before going pointless in his last 6. He looked to be every part of the first round pick the Flyers used to draft him all the way back in 2014. He was aggressive, he was using his smooth skating to his advantage, he was the trailer man on odd man rushes, his defensive play was great, and he had a knack for offense.
Unfortunately, that didn’t translate this season and he was found in John Tortorella’s doghouse a few times. He was called out for his lack of aggression, he mentioned how his confidence wavered all season long, and he was even made a healthy scratch before a game in front of his friends and family in Calgary.
Sanheim started the year with just 2 assists in 17 games, went through a massive rough patch in the middle of the season where he scored just one time and added 4 assists in a 39 game stretch, and then finished the season with just 3 assists in his final 11 games.
He finished the season with just 7 goals and 23 points in 81 games and saw his ATOI drop by 2:34 from 2021-22. His turnovers and lack of judgement in his own zone drew the ire of his head coach but he still only missed the 1 game and averaged 20:24 TOI.
A deal involving Sanheim – before his NTC comes into full effect – is not going to bring back as much as people might think. However, once again, the importance of this deal is not exactly the package in return, it’s about getting out of the contract. The Flyers don’t want to be on the hook for 8 years of a full-NTC at $6.25 million during a rebuild.
He will be much better off and much better suited on a contending team where he will have the safety and protection of much better defensemen around him. He doesn’t have to be the be-all-end-all of a very bad team. He’s still a good and serviceable defenseman but his role in Philadelphia might be too much for him to handle at the moment. With the team rebuilding and Ivan Provorov out of the picture, he will be expected to anchor the top pairing and play somewhere around 23-24-25 minutes.
Daniel Brière is working the phones diligently and as Seravalli reported, a Kevin Hayes trade was almost completed a few days ago. Whatever reputation that Chuck Fletcher tanked and flushed down the toilet has returned in full force with Brière and Keith Jones at the helm.
Expect Hayes to be dealt with salary retention before the free agent window opens, and perhaps now expect a Sanheim deal if the Flyers can find a willing customer to take on the egregious contract that once seemed impossible to move on from.
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