Flyers winger Travis Konecny should have been an All-Star. Here are 5 numbers that prove it.
Konecny was not selected as an All-Star despite leading the Flyers in goals (24) and points (48) and ranking in the top 20 in the league in several key offensive categories.
The voting has closed. The results have been released. And despite his breakout season, Flyers winger Travis Konecny has not been selected as an NHL All-Star.
This season, the NHL’s department of hockey operations chose one player from each team. Three more players (one goalie and two skaters) were added to each division’s roster through a fan vote.
When the NHL revealed its initial selections on Jan. 5, Kevin Hayes, who scored a hat trick on Tuesday night and has 40 points in 45 games, was somewhat surprisingly named as the Flyers’ representative. The last chance for Konecny, the team’s leader in goals (24) and points (48), was to be voted in as one of the two extra Metropolitan Division skaters. That chance has now come and gone, as the NHL announced its final 12 All-Stars (three per division) on Thursday night, and the list did not include Konecny. The New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox and New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin were the final additions to the Metro roster.
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Despite the snub, Konecny has been the Flyers’ “All-Star” in every way, except in name. However, calling Konecny the best player on, at best, a mediocre team doesn’t do him justice. This season he’s produced like one of the best players in the league.
Here are five statistics that show why Konecny should have been an All-Star:
36
The difference in spots between where Konecny is ranked in goals in the league (15th) and where he’s ranked in shots on goal (51st). He’s scoring a lot while shooting less. That speaks to his shot selection and his finishing ability. Konecny’s shooting percentage is 18%, which is more than double his shooting percentage from last season (7.3%).
0.60
Konecny is tied for 10th in the league in goals per game at 0.6. Eight of the players ahead of him, Connor McDavid, Tage Thompson, Jack Hughes, Alexander Ovechkin, Jason Robertson, David Pastrnak, Mikko Rantanen, and Bo Horvat, were selected as All-Stars. Only Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point (0.61) is scoring at a higher rate than Konecny among non-All-Stars. Konecny ranks ahead of or is tied with former Hart Trophy winners Leon Draisaitl (0.60), Auston Matthews (0.55), and Nikita Kucherov (0.41).
8
The number of points Konecny leads the Flyers by. He has 48 points despite missing six games with a hand injury. The next closest Flyer, Hayes, has 40. The 25-year-old winger is averaging 1.20 points per game (14th in the NHL) compared to Hayes’ 0.89 points per game. Konecny is averaging the same or more points per game than All-Stars Mitch Marner (1.20), Sidney Crosby (1.18), and Ovechkin (1.08).
3
Konecny’s three shorthanded goals are tied with teammate Scott Laughton for the second-most in the NHL. Many of the tandem’s six combined shorthanded goals have come while both players were on the ice with the team’s top penalty-killing unit (Konecny’s six shorthanded points rank behind only Laughton’s seven leaguewide). It shows how much the Flyers rely on Konecny in all situations. It also shows his personal improvement this season. Konecny had never killed penalties before this year and has quickly established himself as one of the league’s most dangerous penalty killers.
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1
The feisty winger ranks first on the Flyers in goals, goals per game, points, points per game, power-play goals (tied), shorthanded goals (tied), game-winning goals, shooting percentage, and average ice time among forwards.