In the history of the Flyers, only a dozen had done it, so it’s a pretty big deal.
That is, register 500 games as a Philadelphia defenseman.
Travis Sanheim was about to become the 13th player to reach that milestone on Tuesday night when the Flyers visited the Edmonton Oilers.
Sanheim, 28, was a first-round pick (17th overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft. It only took him a couple years to make it from the Phantoms to the Flyers and he’s been a mainstay ever since.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play in five hundred,” the Elkhorn, Manitoba, Canada native said after the morning skate. “Obviously it’s a special moment. Just going to try to enjoy the game tonight.”
The Flyers have watched Sanheim gradually ascend the ranks. Currently he’s on a first pairing with Cam York. The duo spent a lot of last season playing together.
“We know each other’s game,” Sanheim said. “Now we know where guys are going to be. Plays that we can make. Whether it’s on breakouts or offensively.
“Just continuing to grow our game. We only got together a couple games in the preseason so it’s going to take a bit. But I’ve liked it so far and just continue to get better each day.”
The Flyers thought enough of Sanheim’s game to sign him to an eight-year, $50-million contract back in October of 2022. That made him the highest-paid defenseman in Flyers history.
In recent years, the 6-foot-4 Sanheim has added some weight. At the moment, he checks in at a rather muscular 222 pounds.
Sanheim looks forward to a working with a full complement of healthy defensemen this season. Both Rasmus Ristolainen and Jamie Drysdale are back at full strength after injury-plagued seasons.
“Some of the guys who are healthy are big pieces for our back end,” Sanheim said. “They’re helping out a lot. I just think as a group we’re going to continue to grow throughout the year. Try to get better each game. Early on, there are some areas we want to improve on and I’m sure we’re going to see more of that tonight.”
>Positioning Michkov
In the first two games at Vancouver and Calgary, coach John Tortorella had moved rookie Matvei Michkov from right wing (where, as a left-handed shot, he played in preseason) over to left wing on a line with center Sean Couturier and right wing Travis Konecny.
At Tuesday morning’s skate, Tortorella discussed where things might be headed and why he initially put Michkov and Konecny together.
“I thought him (Michkov) and TK had really good chemistry,” Tortorella explained. “They do have good chemistry. TK is not a left winger and I’m not going to screw around with him game.
“I think ‘Mich’ can play both sides,” Tortorella said. “I want to try to get him as comfortable as possible early on to try to get his game going. We’ll put him on the right side. You may see him with TK along the way because I do think they have some chemistry. We’ll see where it goes.”
