Flyers want to find playing time for Travis Sanheim…somewhere

Dave Isaac
The Courier-Post
Rookie Travis Sanheim has been a healthy scratch in seven of the last eight Flyers games.

VOORHEES — When the Flyers finally pared down their final roster in October they had already started playing regular-season games.

The last battle was between defensemen Travis Sanheim and Samuel Morin and the former was ultimately told to find a place to live in Cherry Hill, a sign that he had made the NHL.

Recently, he seems like a fringe player. He’s sat seven of the last eight and have gone 6-2-0 in those games. When the Flyers face the New Jersey Devils Saturday afternoon, it looks like it will become eight of nine.

“If you look at the whole year on Travis I think he’s played well for us,” general manager Ron Hextall said. “He’s had his moments, but he’s a young player and that’s gonna happen. Obviously I don’t like him sitting and the coaches don’t like him sitting and I’m sure he doesn’t like sitting either. Something will break here at some point.”

The only game Sanheim got into during that stretch was the last time the Flyers played the Devils, when Shayne Gostisbehere was sick and Sanheim was the only option available. He played just six minutes.

Expectations were high for Sanheim in his rookie season and when he has been in the lineup he’s made some progress defensively after some miscues that were costly. He’s had to do it in sporadic opportunities.

“I’m definitely hard on myself,” the 21-year-old said this week. “Situations like that happen and it ends up in the back of our net or an odd-man rush. Obviously, I’m trying to learn from those and pick up little areas and try to limit those and have those mistakes not happen whether it was my fault or not and find different ways to make sure I don’t give up odd-man rushes or goals against.”

Sanheim is caught in the catch-22 of the Flyers needing him to play with confidence and his confidence being shot because he hasn’t played more than six minutes since Dec. 28.

“As an athlete, if you make a mistake and you can’t rebound from it, you’re probably not going to be at this level for very long,” Hextall said. “There’s learning curves all along the way.”

And if there is no shot at redemption because the player is benched immediately after said mistake?

“Maybe 10 games later there will be a chance and they’ll have learned so much from that to take for the next 15 years,” Hextall said, noting he did not believe coach Dave Hakstol is prone to sitting rookies over veterans. “Can’t look at things in a vacuum. There’s a small picture and there’s a big picture.”

Here’s a glimpse at Sanheim’s big picture this season: he has played nearly 235 of his 481 minutes this season with Brandon Manning on the pairing that usually plays the least. He finally scored a goal in his 28th game. Known as an offensive-minded defenseman, finding the back of the net gave Sanheim more confidence and he looked more definitive with the puck.

His play without the puck has been a work in progress. He noted that the positioning of his stick has been a problem and, since he isn’t a physical force despite his 6-foot-3 frame, that’s something that needs to improve.  

Hakstol said that there is “consideration there” that Sanheim needs to play and when asked if perhaps that should be back in the American Hockey League he said that wasn’t a decision for him to make.

“We’re gonna let that play out,” Hextall said. “We’ve got two games this weekend and we all know what happens. Guys get banged up and poor play or whatever. He’s gonna be playing hockey in the near future at some point.”

In Philadelphia, or Allentown?

“I’m assuming here,” Hextall said, “but I don’t have the answer for you is what I’m trying to say.”

It’s a tough situation to come into as a rookie on a young team when the Flyers are trying to push for a playoff spot and the coach has a short list of defensemen he trusts.

Meantime, the Flyers veterans are there to help if Sanheim needs it.

“I think you just stay prepared and continue to work on your game,” alternate captain Andrew MacDonald said of the younger Flyers. “Everyone’s been through it. It’s part of the game and part of learning. You try to be there if they have any questions or concerns or need a pat on the back or whatever. I think they’ve done a great job. You can tell they’re committed. They’re in the gym all the time and doing the right things. That’s the best way to go about it and when you get your opportunity do your best to take advantage of it.”

Dave Isaac; @davegisaac; 856-486-2479; disaac@gannett.com

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