Travis Konecny is eligible for a contract extension on July 1st, 2024, and the Philadelphia Flyers should look to get the extension done sooner rather than later for a variety of reasons.
Primarily, as the team’s best offensive weapon, Konecny should be a cornerstone and building block, even at the age of 27. Furthermore, the last thing you want in a contract season is the pending extension hanging over you and the team, like a dark cloud, ready for the media to pounce at every chance they get.
Profile: Travis Konecny
Konecny was selected in the first round of the vaunted 2015 NHL Entry Draft, headlined by Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. Konecny was the second player selected by the Flyers, the first being Ivan Provorov at seventh overall, after trading up from pick 29 to 24 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He completed his draft season scoring 68 points (29G, 39A) in 60 games for the Ottawa 67’s in the OHL. Konecny added 101 points (30G, 71A) in a 60-game split season between the 67’s and the Sarnia before he leaped to the NHL in 2016-2017.
Throughout eight seasons with the Flyers, Konecny scored 400 points (174G, 226A), including nine shorthanded goals, and 26 game-winning goals in 564 games. Since the 2019-2020 season, Konecny tallied 276 points (115G, 161A) and led the team in points, except for 2020-2021. He struggled from 2020-2021 into the first half of 2021-2022 but rebounded in a very big way since John Tortorella became the head coach.
The 2019-2020 season featured Konecny scoring 61 points (24G, 37A) in 66 games before the regular season was suspended due to COVID. The feisty forward went goal-less in 16 playoff games; the start of a rough stretch that led to just 27 goals between 2020-2022. In fact, from the playoff bubble to December 5th, 2022, Konecny scored 51 points (16G, 35A) in 88 games before regaining his playmaking ability under Mike Yeo.
Since Tortorella, Konecny has become an offensive threat and a two-way dynamo, scoring 129 points (64G, 65A), including all nine of his career shorthanded goals, nine power play goals, and 10 game-winning goals while averaging 19:58TOI. That is a stark contrast from averaging 15:45 from 2016-2022.
An underrated part of his game is how well he plays away from the puck, recording 87 takeaways to 56 giveaways under Tortorella, including a career-high 53 takeaways this season. His 57.8%CF, 9.4CF% relative, 58%FF, and 6.7%FF relative were all massive upgrades from his 2022-23 season.
Overall, he was fantastic from start to finish this season. Konecny scored 11 points (8G, 3A) in his first 10 games, then went through his slowest stretch, four points (3G, 1A) in his next 10. From his 21st to 60th game, he scored 41 points (16G, 25A). He undoubtedly led the club in points (68), goals (33), assists (35), even-strength goals (23), shorthanded goals (6), game-winning goals (5), shooting percentage (13.5%), and average ice time amongst forwards (19:50TOI).
Contract Extension?
Recently, the Flyers extended Owen Tippett to an 8yr/$49.6mil ($6.2mil/AAV) deal. Sean Couturier remains signed for six more seasons at a $7.75mil cap hit. Joel Farabee has four years left at a $5mil cap hit. Then, Scott Laughton ($3mil) and Ryan Poehling ($1.9mil) each remain in Philadelphia for two more seasons.
Cam Atkinson, Noah Cates, Morgan Frost, Garnet Hathaway, Tyson Foerster, and Ryan Johansen are all the forwards on expiring contracts at the end of the 2024-2025 season with Konecny. On the defensive side of the puck, Travis Sanheim (7), Nick Seeler (4), Rasmus Ristolainen (3), Jamie Drysdale (2), and Cam York (1) all have a varied number of seasons remaining on their current contracts.
There will be a lot of moving parts between now and the 2025 offseason with only Tippett, Sanheim, Couturier, Farabee, Seeler, Ristolainen, and Drysdale signed beyond 2025-2026. Konecny should be on that list, but for how long and how much?
Contract Comparisons
Signing anyone to the maximum allotment of term is always a risk, especially when they’re on the grizzled side of their 20s. Konecny would be 28 when his new extension kicked in, and a full eight-year deal would serve him until his age-36 season. Tippett just turned 25, so he is only a few years behind Konecny, but two years makes a huge difference in how the team, organization, and league views you and your future.
Many players, comparable to Konecny, haven’t yet signed lucrative deals or extensions. That’s the problem with putting a finger on the perfect contract comparison. Konecny ranks among the top 10 right wingers in goals and average points per game since 2022-2023, but he’s not quite on the same playing field as David Pastrňák, Nikita Kucherov, or Mikko Rantanen; all who earn $9.25mil/AAV or more.
Jesper Bratt could draw a closer comparison to Konecny. Bratt will be 26 and is under contract with the New Jersey Devils at $7.875mil until 2031. In 471 career games, Bratt scored 359 points (129G, 23oA), including 229 points (85G, 144A) in 240 games dating back to 2021-2022.
According to CapFriendly, the most compatible results with Bratt include Kevin Fiala (90.5%), Timo Meier (85.1%), Andrei Svechnikov (80.1%), Cole Caufield (79.6%), and Jordan Kyrou (79.6%). These players all signed contracts with seven-plus years of term and carry a cap hit between $7.75mil (Svechnikov) and $8.8mil (Meier). Konecny should fall in that range with ease.
Meier, also selected in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, was off the board 15 picks ahead of Konecny to the San Jose Sharks. He scored 382 points (191G, 191A) in 541 games, but has 194 points (103G, 91A) in his last 224 games split between the Sharks and Devils. Konecny isn’t far off from that point total in nine fewer games since 2021-2022.
New Jersey valued the goal-scoring, shot-producing, and power-forward frame Meier possesses when they agreed to the $8.8mil/AAV evaluation. His average annual value is rather steep, even for an expanding salary cap, but goal-scorers come at a premium.
An Agreement?
Will Konecny accept an extension at $7.75mil/AAV from the Flyers? It’s possible, but look for him to negotiate higher, starting at $8mil. The salary cap is expected to exponentially rise in the coming seasons, and a lot of players will look to squeeze as much money from their respective clubs as possible after the cap was stagnant and immobile since COVID ravaged the hockey world.
Some believe extending Konecny is not the right course of action, and that seven or eight years is too long for someone who plays his style of game or missed time due to injury in the last few seasons. However, the Flyers don’t have another Konecny waiting in the wings, they’re bereft of skillful players, and he hasn’t reached his prime. Players of his ilk will always cost a premium to keep, but they’re worth the risk.
The rebuild began with a bang and the Flyers very well could’ve made the playoffs if not for a meltdown near the end of the season. They won’t rush the rebuild, but they also won’t sit idly this summer or next while they wait for Matvei Michkov.
Konecny and Tippett are two great building blocks for what the Flyers rebuild is trying to achieve, and extending both players as soon as possible should be a top priority. One down, and one to go.
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