Travis Sanheim’s recent offensive uptick hints that the new Sanheim is here to stay

Travis Sanheim was in the right place at the exact right time.

In the third period against Nashville on Tuesday, the Flyers’ top forward line of Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, and Tyson Foerster caught the Predators on an odd-man rush. Konecny’s one-timer bounced off goalie Juuse Saros’ pads, but crashing the net behind them was Sanheim, who was wide-open to bury the rebound.

The goal, Sanheim’s second in as many games, tied the score at 2 and earned the Flyers (15-10-3) a big road point in what was ultimately a 3-2 overtime loss.

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“I was just following the play as I try to do a lot, and just a fortunate bounce that sits there, and [I’m] happy to put that one in,” Sanheim said.

Fortunate bounce or not, the defenseman’s recent offensive contributions and participation in the rush Tuesday encapsulate the type of player that he has wanted to become — and the player he was expected to become when he signed his eight-year, $50 million contract extension on opening night in 2022. The 27-year-old, who said he put on 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason, has not only taken on but thrived in a top-pairing role after the departure of Ivan Provorov in the offseason.

Sanheim has points in four straight games, including a goal in each of the last two. Against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, Sanheim scored from the point to pad the Flyers’ lead. But what impressed Flyers coach John Tortorella most was a play later in the game when Sanheim skated the puck up himself from center ice, blowing past Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews. While Sanheim lost the puck in the crease and ended up in a heap with Toews behind the net, the puck squirted out to Bobby Brink, who set up Joel Farabee for a tap-in.

“I didn’t see Sanny do that once last year on [Farabee’s] goal, just bull rush to the net,” Tortorella said. “I did not see him do it once last year. And you could see once he picked the puck up, that’s his whole thought. And that’s what creates that goal.”

While he only recorded a secondary assist on the score sheet, the goal was set in motion by Sanheim’s decision to join the rush.

“I was just trying to cut it into the net. I thought I had a little bit of a jump past their D man,” Sanheim said. “ [Morgan] Frost makes a great play getting it to me up the ice, and I just try to cut in as best I could to take it to the net.”

It’s a noticeable turnaround, after Sanheim’s promising start to the season had started to fizzle out. His goal Saturday ended a 12-game scoring drought. But even with a bit of a down period offensively, Sanheim is tied for second on the team with 21 points, two fewer than his total through the entire 2022-23 season in just over a third of the games played. Sanheim is on pace for 12 goals and a career-high 62 points; his previous career high of 35 points came in 2018-19. He’s been clutch as well, and is responsible for two game-winning goals this season, tied for the most of his career.

Sanheim most often pairs with fellow first-round pick Cam York on the Flyers’ top pairing. While both are left-handed shots, Tortorella made the decision to move Sanheim to the right side this season to give York an opportunity to develop on the left. When the move first happened, Sanheim told Tortorella that the switch in positioning helped him see the ice better in the offensive zone — an assessment that is starting to look like it holds some water.

The Flyers have been relying on Sanheim as a cornerstone of a blue line full of inexperienced young players and banged-up veterans. Sanheim, who was nearly moved to St. Louis in the offseason, is eating up the most minutes on the team by a wide margin while playing in all situations. He’s third in the league in time on ice, averaging 25 minutes, 34 seconds, a figure that is only a few seconds behind the Kings’ Drew Doughty and the Capitals’ John Carlson. The mark is not only a career high but is over five minutes more than Sanheim played per game last season (20:24).

Tortorella has repeatedly acknowledged his heavy usage of Sanheim, and has said that he’s trying to limit his minutes going forward to give the defenseman a bit of a breather.

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“He’s played hard minutes. I think he was 22 tonight. We’re still trying to watch him,” Tortorella said on Saturday. “I just want to get them to those few days off during Christmas [Dec. 23-27].”

Sanheim has skated 102.28 miles — third-highest among NHL defensemen — through 27 games, according to NHL Edge tracking data. That works out to almost four marathons, and is twice the skating distance for the average NHL defenseman (52.77 miles).

Against Nashville, Sanheim logged 23:26 of ice time. While still high, that figure is two minutes fewer than his typical usage. Leading all Flyers was York, with 24:24. It’s possible that the decision to slightly conserve his minutes has allowed Sanheim some extra juice in the third, leading him to create some needed offense late in the game.

“That’s his mindset. He’s really handled himself well,” Tortorella said.