Flyers forward added to the trading block and he's been linked to Toronto in the past
The Philadelphia Flyers are going to consume the hockey world for the time being considering their new front office is looking to make several splashes and move on from a lot of their core veterans. Ivan Provorov was dealt a few days ago, Carter Hart's name has been out there since, Kevin Hayes and Tony DeAngelo look like prime candidates, and now we may be adding Travis Konecny to the fray.
For Flyers fans it's no surprise that Konecny is being mentioned because for this rebuild to go through, it was always said it needs to be Provorov or Konecny who get the ball rolling. The 26-year-old is coming off a career-season where he scored 31 goals and 61 points in just 60 games and has 141 goals and 332 points in 488 games across 7 seasons.
Daniel Briere has mentioned that he will listen to offers on just about everybody and that includes Konecny. The Flyers aren't in a rush to trade Konecny like they might've been with Provorov. The two players were drafted in the first round of the 2015 draft, made their NHL debuts together, and were seen as the core of the team at their respective positions. Unfortunately Provorov was more of a roller coaster for the Flyers with reported rifts between player and team and sometimes throwing his own teammates under the bus.
John Tortorella is going to have a lot of sway in personnel movement and he's made it very clear that Konecny is his guy - based on verbiage. However, the Flyers are doing their due diligence on listening to offers and Pierre LeBrun even mentioned that he suspects there will be at least 1 or 2 offers that will make the Flyers ponder long and hard.
Konecny would be a perfect fit for just about any team. He seamlessly fits in the top-6, has scored 24+ goals on 4 separate occasions, led the Flyers in points 3 times in the last 4 years, and is starting to turn into a 2-way player with penalty killing prowess.
Frank Corrado appeared on Leafs Lunch to discuss who the Leafs should target on the Flyers if they initiate a fire sale:
"It's not like you are looking at the Flyers and thinking 'Okay it's a fire sale, but I'm shopping at Gucci' ... unless you're talking about Travis Konecny, I'm not sure there's anyone who fits, but do the Leafs really need another undersized forward?"
The key term there is "fire sale" because Briere has staunchly been against that idea since he took over. He has said countless times that they are open for business and will listen to all offers, and he'll say yes if he's blown away. However they acknowledge that it's going to be a 3-4 year rebuild and they aren't in a rush.
Should the Leafs give up the necessary assets to acquire Konecny? I think he would fit in perfectly with what Toronto needs and wants and he only carries a cap hit of 5.5 million for the next 2 seasons. The Flyers are going to want a lot of draft capital and prospects for a player they can still see being a part of the solution for them going forward.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 8 | 336 ANSWERS Flyers forward added to the trading block and he's been linked to Toronto in the past Is Travis Konecny a good fit for the Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 207 | 61.6 % |
| No | 129 | 38.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
