Starting when he was a 19-year-old rookie, Travis Konecny has called Philadelphia his NHL home.
As the Flyers turned into a rebuilding team last March, Konecny still didn't see his future anywhere else.
"Been through a lot of good times and also down times," he said. "So when you go through that stuff as a team and some of the guys that have been here, it would mean that much more when you can get to the end goal and winning. It means a lot to be a part of a process like that. You've just got to bunker down, go to work and see what happens."
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
What has happened is Konecny has become an NHL All-Star again. He'll represent the Flyers at the 2024 All-Star festivities Feb. 1-3 in Toronto. It will be Konecny's second career All-Star Game. His first came in 2020, when he was 22 years old. Konecny is now an established star at 26 and still hitting his prime.
He has produced like a guy the Flyers could rely on as a leader of their rebuild.
With a team-high 18 goals through 37 games, Konecny is on pace for 40 markers. Last season, he finished with a career-high 31 despite missing 22 games because of two separate injuries (right hand; upper body).
Konecny also leads the Flyers with 33 points and is first among the team's forwards with a plus-11 rating.
NHL
"My teammates have done so much to help me get to this point," Konecny said after scoring two more goals in the Flyers' 3-2 shootout loss Thursday to the Blue Jackets. "Credit goes to them."
Konecny has become an all-situation player under John Tortorella. Over the last two seasons, he leads the NHL with seven shorthanded goals.
"It's shocking to me that he never killed penalties," the Flyers' head coach said in December. "When we started with him killing penalties, it was new to him, he said he has never done it before. I think his inner confidence has grown that he can be a great player; not a good player, that he can be a great player. And that he can put some people on his shoulders and carry."
The 32 players announced Thursday as All-Star representatives were selected by the NHL. There will be a fan vote to name the final 12 All-Stars.
The Flyers entered Thursday having lost five of their last six games. But overall, they have surprised this season following a summer that was all about rebuilding. At 19-13-5, there's a shot for the playoffs. The last time the Flyers made the postseason was 2019-20, the last time Konecny was an All-Star.
If the Flyers are going to follow through on their surprise, Konecny should be right in the middle of it.
Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | Youtube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube