PHILADELPHIA – Given the Flyers’ current injury situation with their defense corps, it’s pretty much all hands on deck.
And leading that pack of reinforcements is veteran Travis Sanheim.
The 28-year-old from Elkhorn, Manitoba has seen his ice time steadily rise as the Flyers currently have three defensemen (Cam York, Jamie Drydale, Emil Andrae) out of service.
The increase in playing minutes has been pretty dramatic.
Heading into Wednesday night’s game against Carolina, Sanheim had averaged close to 30 minutes a game over the past five. Three of those games did go past regulation time but the last two (Buffalo, Colorado) ended in 60 minutes.
In the Avalanche game, Sanheim played 31 minutes, seven seconds. That’s a lot, regardless of the circumstances.
Thing is, Sanheim doesn’t mind the extra workload at all. In fact, when coach John Tortorella gave him Tuesday off from practice, Sanheim was still prowling around the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, N.J. looking for something to do.
After averaging just 20:24 ice time two full seasons back, Sanheim had that pushed up to 23:48 last season. This year it’s reached a whopping 25:35 per game.
Tortorella can only smile at his player’s work ethic. When the two first started working together in the 2022-23 season, the coach wasn’t exactly sure what he had in Sanheim. Good skater but not much of a force, particularly at the offensive side of the ice.
Now look what’s happened.
His five goals are tied for second among NHL backliners and he stands 20th on defense overall in scoring (12 points).
Plus he’s done a lot of this without his regular partner, York, who’s been sidelined a dozen games.
“I don’t look at the numbers,” Tortorella admitted after the Wednesday morning skate. “We get a book of numbers after each game. The thing with ‘Sanny,’ to me it’s his mindset. I watch him and every chance he has he’s jumping in the rush.”
That’s exactly what you want to see from a defenseman with Sanheim’s outstanding skating ability and above-average stickhandling skills.
Perhaps it’s a product of gaining more confidence as the months and years go by.
“In the offensive zone, he’s much more active off the blue line,” Tortorella said. “I think he started feeling good when we put him on the right side (he shoots lefty). He saw the ice better and I think he felt better coming in from the blue line on the right side.”
At times it’s almost like having a fourth forward out there.
“I thought he said, ‘this is fun.’ Roaming around in there like a rover,” Tortorella said. “That adds to his ice time. I think what he’s trying to do makes such a differnce for us. He’s always up the ice, always in the offense. I think that adds to those numbers.
“Tnat’s the No. 1 thing which has changed since the first year. That year, he looked good skating but accomplished nothing. Now where he’s gone to – it started with his conditioning, he added some good weight and then he started with an attitude. I think he’s taken off.”
This is the kind of leader you want on the ice as much as possible when you’re trying to end a four-year playoff drought.
“Everybody looks at numbers,” Tortorella said. “I think it’s fun to see how he’s grown mentally. Like: ‘I am going to be the guy.’ It’s so cool to watch that. I think that’s one of the most interesting facets of developing people. I’d like to just know what turned on up there.”
Sanheim is not the type to draw attention to himself but the media around his locker continues to grow in size. This is one of the feel-good stories of the season so far.
In Monday night’s game against Colorado, he was paired with brand-new rookie Helge Grans and the kid came away with his first NHL assist and a team-best plus-2.
“He looked a lot more confident than I did my first game,” Sanheim wisecracked with a big smile. “He was pretty easy to play with. Always in the right spots. Wasn’t afraid to make plays. Exactly what we needed from him.”
As for the expanded workload, Sanheim takes it in stride, although the Avalanche game was a bit taxing.
“I don’t know if I could do that two games,” he said. “But it’s the situation we’re in. It’s more minutes taken upon. I’m happy to do it. I enjoy playing a lot of minutes. Sometimes it’s a bit tough when you try to join the rush like I’ve been doing.”
So recovery time management off the ice is crucial.
“Just trying to take care of my body,” he said. “Try to get as much rest as I can. Get ready for the next one. That’s really all you can do. So far, so good. I’ve been feeling healthy.”
Tortorella seems to have a good feel as to when a player needs a day off the skates.
“I walked in the door (on Tuesday) and he told me I wasn’t skating,” Sanheim said. “I think he knew that sometimes it’s also upon them that they need to tell me because sometimes I’ll skate more than I need to. I think for them I think it’s understood that if they tell me I can’t go out, it doesn’t leave me up to a choice of my own.”
As for joining the rush, Sanheim says he’s studied film of Colorado’s Cale Makar and Nashville’s Roman Josi to see how they do it.
“Just try to fit that into my game,” Sanheim said. “The chances that they’re getting. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of getting those chances. It’s been good so far. I feel like I’ve been able to capitalize more than years past. It’s something I’ve worked on.”
