The Philadelphia Flyers nearly made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2023-24. Unfortunately, a late-season collapse prevented them from claiming the spot they held for most of the season. Still, there are a lot of positives for the Flyers to take away from this season. One positive is the continued emergence of forward Travis Konecny.
Konecny showed promise during the 2022-23 campaign when he scored 31 goals and 61 points. This sets a new career high in goals while tying a career high for points. In 2023-24, the Flyers hoped to see him continue this pace at the very least. He was able to do just that as he scored 33 goals and 68 points while skating in 76 games for Philadelphia.
It was enough of an improvement for the Flyers to sign Konecny to an eight-year contract extension. However, is this improvement worth the $70 million total value of this new deal? Let's take a look at this contract and hand out grades for the Flyers and their star forward.
Travis Konecny signs with Flyers
Konecny has shown in the past that he can put up solid offensive numbers. As mentioned, he had a 61-point season before the 2022-23 campaign. Additionally, the Flyers star has three other seasons with 45+ points. Even before his recent offensive surge, Philadelphia had a very solid player in their former first-round pick.
Konecny turned his recent offensive surge into a fantastic contract. He will be paid nearly $9 million a season through the life of this contract. Additionally, he has some say over his future. That said, there are conflicting reports about the protections in his contract.
PuckPedia says that his contract has a no-movement clause and a modified no-trade clause simultaneously through each season. Meanwhile, Flyers beat reporter Jackie Spiegel reported something else. She says it's a no-movement clause for the first six years before it becomes a modified no-trade.
In any event, it's clear that the Flyers star has some control over his next steps if Philadelphia doesn't work out. It's a great situation for him to be in. He is now among the highest-paid wingers in the league. And he has a chance to see the team that drafted him through their current rebuild. It's hard to dislike this from his perspective.
Flyers sign Travis Konecny
It's understandable why Philadelphia wanted to keep Konecny around. They could have traded him around the NHL Draft last summer. However, they wanted to give him a chance to prove he could build on his 31-goal season. Now that he has, it makes sense to reward him with a long-term contract.
That said, it feels like an overpay from the team's perspective. Konecny is being paid similarly to Robert Thomas, Jesper Bratt, and Brady Tkachuk. But he hasn't had the same offensive impact as those players. Over the last three seasons, Konecny has the lowest offensive goals above replacement among those four names, according to Evolving Hockey. His 23.2 OGAR is nearly 17.5 OGAR less than that of Tkachuk, who comes in third.
Looking at a more overall impact, Konecny falls short, as well. He ranks last among these four players in overall goals above replacement with 14.5. And his 2.4 wins above replacement also come in last. The Flyers are essentially paying for the impact of a Brady Tkachuk or Jesper Bratt without actually receiving it.
Of course, there are some caveats. The Flyers weren't great for two of these last three seasons. It would make sense that his numbers are down compared to Thomas, Bratt, and Tkachuk. But Tkachuk isn't in the greatest situation, either.
The Ottawa Senators haven't been much better than the Flyers over these last three years. And yet his numbers are not too dissimilar to that of Thomas and Bratt, who have played on playoff-caliber teams.
Overall, Konecny has some upside, especially if he remains healthy. He could very well become the player the Flyers are paying for here. For now, though, it's a major overpay for Philadelphia. And with Matvei Michkov coming, they may have just tied up nearly $9 million into a second-line player.
Grades and final thoughts
Travis Konecny receives a high grade while the Flyers receive a below average grade. Konecny has turned a recent surge in his goal scoring into a big pay day and more stability in his career. Philadelphia, though, may have jumped the gun in terms of the financial commitment. Konecny is a great player, but he hasn't made the type of impact that other players making as much as him have made. Additionally, while Konecny will begin as a first-line player, he may be bumped to the second-line if Matvei Michkov develops as expected.
Travis Konecny grade: A
Philadelphia Flyers grade: C-
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