On Jan. 4, the NHL announced its All-Star representatives from each of the 32 teams, with the draft set to take place on Feb. 1, the Skills Competition set for Feb. 2, and the festivities concluding on Feb. 3 with the All-Star Game. Subsequent players can still make the team, but the Philadelphia Flyers had their member confirmed: Travis Konecny.
For Konecny, it is his second time being an NHL All-Star — his first since the 2019-20 season. An argument could be made that he was snubbed from the event last season after scoring 24 goals and 25 assists for 49 points through his first 45 games heading into the All-Star break, but he gets to represent the Flyers this go around.
Though his 18 goals and 15 assists for 33 points through his first 37 games this season suggest he has taken a bit of a step back, he is the team leader in goals, second place in assists, first in points, and third in plus-minus. Among forwards, he is either first or tied for first in all the above categories. He’s having a spectacular season, so it was a good choice to have him represent the Flyers.
What’s been particularly interesting about Konecny has been his shooting percentage. He was coming off a career-high 16.2 percent rate last season, with past trends suggesting that he’d likely cool off a bit. Instead, he is having the second-best shooting percentage season of his career with a 15.3 percent rate this season. Under head coach John Tortorella, he has turned into an elite shooter and an excellent two-way player.
Whether or not Konecny will be the sole representative of the Flyers is still yet to be determined until fan voting occurs, but he is the only Flyer who is All-Star bound for now. From the skating to the accuracy events in the All-Star Skills Competition, he’d be a solid candidate for several different games.