The Flyers’ Travis Konecny has blossomed from ‘rat’ into one of the NHL’s top goal scorers

TORONTO — Travis Konecny was getting antsy.

Sitting on a bench in his jersey and skates on the ice at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night, the Flyers forward anxiously waited to see which All-Star team would draft him. Like a game of dodgeball as a kid, Konecny saw other guys getting selected one after another. So much so that when he was asked by the in-arena host, which team he wanted to go to, he replied with a smile: “At this point, anybody.”

He didn’t have to wait too much longer thanks to Nathan MacKinnon. So why did the Colorado Avalanche star pick Konency? “Hopefully he can be a rat out there and get under some guys’ skin,” he said.

» READ MORE: The rebuilding Flyers are in playoff position at the All-Star break. Here’s how they’ve done it.

“Rat.”

It’s a term handed out to a distinct group of hockey players — guys who you love playing with and detest playing against. There was the original agitator, Ken “The Rat” Linesman who played parts of five seasons with the Flyers. Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand is the modern-day prototype of someone who can knock opponents off their games while also being one of the NHL’s top points-getters.

Since Konecny first donned the Flyers jersey in 2016, he leads the team with 387 penalty minutes and 191 penalties drawn. But the Ontario native swears he doesn’t get involved in rat-like behavior these days — he’s just focused on his game.

If you ask his teammates, however, it’s a different story.

“I would say rat, but in a good way,” winger Joel Farabee said when asked to describe Konecny. “I think the way he plays, it gets under guys’ skin. He plays hard and just [upsets] a lot of people on the ice and I think it plays into his advantage.”

“He’s the kind of guy you want on your team that’s going to bring that intensity every night and is always involved and gets guys to kind of follow him into the battle,” center Sean Couturier said. “But I’m sure playing against him, he must be a little rat.”

These days, the guys playing against Konecny not only have to deal with him being a smidge incendiary they also have to deal with his skill. MacKinnon may have joked that his team needed an agitator but that’s not why Konecny is in Toronto as the Flyers’ lone representative at the 2024 All-Star Game. There are 42 reasons why.

Through 50 games this season, he leads the Flyers in both goals (22) and assists (20). He’s on pace for a career-high 36 goals and 69 points.

“I just think I’ve kind of tried to complete my game a little bit more,” said Konecny, who is making his second All-Star appearance. “It’s not easy to score in the NHL. So when you’re not doing that you feel like you’re not doing your job. So I’ve kind of realized that there’s more to it, of being a complete player and doing more things correctly in a game is going to help the team more than just offensive scoring.

Becoming a 200-foot guy is not an easy undertaking, especially at the top level. But Konecny has done just that. Now a veteran presence, he’s immersed himself in becoming a guy who is tough to play against at both ends of the ice.

How did he do it? Maybe it’s the one word coach John Tortorella used to describe Konecny: instinctive.

“He drives me crazy in some of the things he does,” the bench boss said. “But the things that drive me crazy about him, in how reactive he is and how dumb he can be, also make him a great player. He is a great player. I love coaching him because you never know what you’re going to get from him as far as what happens on the ice. But I know the great engine he has ... and what he does for his hockey team is invaluable in all situations.”

» READ MORE: Flyers’ Travis Konecny ‘just trying to enjoy’ All-Star weekend the second time around

All situations for Konecny these days includes penalty killing.

During his first six seasons in the NHL, Konecny saw the ice for a combined total of 18 minutes and 28 seconds when the Flyers were shorthanded. But Tortorella and associate coach Brad Shaw came in prior to last season and changed all that. In 110 games under the duo, he’s played 196:26 on the penalty kill. Konecny is averaging close to two short-handed minutes a game.

“I was excited,” said Konency about when he found out he’d be a penalty killer. “I was nervous at the start last year. I remember my first game was in Tampa last year, and [Tortorella] told me I was going to be on the PK. And we’re playing Tampa’s powerplay, which is like the best one in the NHL, probably right now too, and he just said, ‘Don’t mess it up.’ I was like, ‘OK, here we go.’”

Considering the Flyers penalty kill is No. 2 in the NHL at 85.9% effectiveness, Konecny and his buddies have done their job. Often paired with Scott Laughton, Konecny is tied with the New York Islanders’ Simon Holmström for the NHL’s most short-handed goals this season with five. The Flyers, as a team, have 10.

Power kill is probably a better word than penalty kill.

“Competitor,” defenseman Sean Walker said when asked to describe Konency in one word. “I think you see it every shift. It doesn’t matter how big the other guy is or what the play is, he’s going to give 100%. ... We know he’s going do everything he can to make us a better team and do what he can to help us win games.”

Now in his eighth season, Konecny tallied 61 points in 66 games before things shut down in 2019-20. He struggled the next two seasons to find his footing but exploded for 61 points in 60 games last season.

Aside from more ice time on the Flyers’ top line, some of Konecny’s increased production can be attributed to general manager Danny Brière. Both smaller guys who play bigger, Brière, who was then a special assistant to former GM Chuck Fletcher, pulled Konecny aside. The pair broke down his game analytically and noted that when he plays inside — or takes the good ice in the middle — he’s more effective. It’s probably why, per NHL Edge, he’s above league average in shots from the slot.

“He gets in on the forecheck, hard to play against,” said former teammate Keith Yandle who now works as a broadcaster. ”You hate to say that he’s a rat out there because when you’re playing against him, you hate them. But when you’re on his team, you love the guy. ... And you can just tell on the ice, he’s just playing, having fun.”

Konecny likes to have fun off the ice, too. According to Laughton, he’s always messing with guys in the room — in a good way. Konecny revealed he played a prank on Laughton where he kept cutting his freshly laced-up skates; he also revealed Laughton has gotten him back.

“Loud. He never stops talking. All the time,” goaltender Sam Ersson said with a laugh. “He spreads so much good energy joking around. He definitely contributes a lot to the good atmosphere we have here.”

» READ MORE: Gary Bettman addresses 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault case involving Carter Hart

“He’s just always talking,” said center Morgan Frost, who also used the word loud to describe Konecny. “I think it’s good to have them in the locker room. He creates a lot of fun in here and he gives it out but he’s willing to take it back, too.”

If he had a chance to speak to 19-year-old Travis Konecny, 26-year-old Travis Konecny would tell him to soak it all in because it flies by. And now, almost 10 years later, however you want to describe Konecny — competitor, nice, loud, rat — he has become a critical piece to the Flyers’ success this season and beyond.

“It’s really exciting to be here at this time and to be a Flyer,” Konecny said. “You see the group of guys that are around and that are going to be here, and the core that they’re building and the culture they’re building, it’s just great. It’s fun to be a part of right now. ... It’s just an exciting time and it makes it fun to come to the rink every day, and that’s what being a Flyer is, it’s a family and you want to be around each other.”