NHL.com’s fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at the skating distance of Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim.
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Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim skated 4.69 miles in their 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, marking a new single-game high for an individual skater this season.
Per NHL EDGE stats, 2.00 miles of that total came in the third period, marking only the second time in the puck and player tracking era (since 2021-22) that a player had a two-mile period in the regular season. The other instance was Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot in the third period against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 21, 2021 (2.01 miles).
Sanheim was on the ice for 31:07 on Monday, which was an NHL career high and the highest total by a Flyers skater in a single game since Luke Schenn on April 15, 2013 against the Montreal Canadiens (32:51). Sanheim logged 32 shifts, had an assist on the Flyers’ first goal of the game (scored by Owen Tippett) and added three shots on goal as their three-goal comeback attempt fell just short.
Sanheim is the only player in the NHL with more than one game of at least 30:00 this season; he has now done it three times, all in November (others: 30:23 vs. Sharks on Nov. 11, 30:19 at Florida Panthers on Nov. 9).
“[Sanheim] is always up the ice,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “He's always in the offense, jumping in off the blue line. I think that adds to those numbers. So it's a compliment to him as far as the difference he wants to try to make, and that is the No. 1 thing for me. That's what's changed from the first year; he just was out there.”
Sanheim was a presence in all three zones Monday, skating 1.15 miles in the offensive zone (24.5 percent), 1.34 in the neutral zone (28.6 percent) and 2.20 in the defensive zone (46.9 percent). He ranks third in the NHL in total skating distance this season (70.99 miles), behind only New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes (76.83 miles) and Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (71.95). Hughes (62.99) is the only player to skate more even-strength miles than Sanheim (62.30) this season.
"I'm happy to do it. I enjoy playing a lot of minutes," Sanheim said.
Sanheim is also one of the fastest defensemen in the NHL; his 41 speed bursts of at least 20 miles per hour rank fourth at the position behind Cale Makar (45) of the Avalanche, Jake Sanderson of the Senators and Colton Parayko of the St. Louis Blues (42 each) this season. His three speed bursts of at least 22 mph this season is tied with three others for the most among defensemen.
Sanheim reached a max skating speed of 22.42 mph with 6:47 left in the third period Monday, which ranks among the League leaders in that category (92nd percentile) and is faster than his max speed from last season (22.06 mph).
Sanheim leads Flyers defensemen in goals (five), assists (seven) and points (12) -- all coming at even strength. His 12 even-strength points are one behind the NHL lead among defensemen behind Makar, Alex Pietrangelo of the Vegas Golden Knights and Owen Power of the Buffalo Sabres (13 each). After NHL career highs in goals (10), assists (34) and points (44) last season, Sanheim is on pace to challenge or eclipse those marks.
Sanheim has seen his shot attempts per game increase from 2.54 in 2022-23 (206 in 81 games) to 3.95 last season (320 in 81 games) to 5.11 this season (97 in 19 games). Per NHL EDGE stats, Sanheim ranks among the League's best defensemen in high-danger (five; 96th percentile) and midrange (18; 99th percentile) shots on goal. His three midrange goals this season is one away from his total last season (four in 81 games) and trails only Makar (five) and Jakob Chychrun (four) of the Washington Capitals for the most among defensemen.
NHL.com deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman contributed to this report
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