It sure looks like there will be at least a couple of players representing the Philadelphia Flyers at the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament next year. And of course, it is two of the players who have really taken their game to a new level this season.
On Tuesday night’s edition of TSN’s Insider Trading, Chris Johnston spilled the beans and reported who should make up most of Canada’s roster at the upcoming tournament. Among the long list of names was two Flyers: winger Travis Konecny and defenseman Travis Sanheim.
For Konecny, this will be the first time in quite a while that he has been able to represent his country in a tournament. The London, Ont. native last suited up in red and white during the 2017 World Championships — where he was able to earn eight assists in 10 games — right after his rookie season. So, it’s been a decent chunk of time and a whole lot of NHL points scored since Konecny has been on the international stage.
When it comes to Sanheim, he has been able to play for Team Canada as recent as the 2022 World Championships, where he scored four points in 10 games. But both Sanheim and Konecny have had enough experience playing for Canada while playing in junior hockey — the two have appeared once in each of the U17 championships, the U18 championships, and for the World Juniors — to have their name in Hockey Canada’s collective head.
Both of these players certainly deserves this spot. Coming into this season, it felt unlikely that Sanheim and Konecny would be among the 23 players on Team Canada in this mid-season tournament but they have stepped up in a way that felt impossible to ignore. Konecny has continued his scoring tear from last season and has already scored 13 goals and 30 points in just 25 games. And Sanheim has been the star on the Flyers’ blue line; averaging over 25 minutes a game and in the process, scoring 15 points in 25 games, and becoming one of the top workhorses in the NHL this season.
The other players that are going to be reportedly joining Konecny and Sanheim on Canada’s roster are the players that you expect. Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Nathan MacKinnon leading a pack of some of the best forwards in the world, such as: Brad Marchand, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, Mark Stone, and Mitch Marner up front; and defensemen like the Avalanche pair of Devon Toews and Cale Makar, supported by Josh Morrissey, Shea Theodore, and a surprising selection in Colton Parayko.
Canada might be the tournament favorites, but it all depends on goaltending. Adin Hill and Logan Thompson might be the final tandem and both of those players are certainly not considered top netminders in the world. That’s just a little shaky.
While we will be paying more attention to the United States, looking at some Flyers winning some games while representing their country could be fun, too.
