VOORHEES, N.J. — It wasn't all that long ago when John Tortorella benched Travis Sanheim in Calgary, Alberta, spoiling a homecoming for the defenseman.
It wasn't all that long ago when Sanheim nearly played his final game in a Flyers jersey.
In 2022-23, Tortorella's first season as the Flyers' head coach, he challenged Sanheim to have more of a difference-making attitude. Sanheim then endured a rocky offseason showered in trade speculation.
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Now, he's Tortorella's go-to guy, eating up 30 minutes in consecutive games.
And playing well in those heavy minutes.
"He wants more, you can tell," Tortorella said Wednesday after practice. "You remember how I felt about him the first year, I was pretty vocal about it. I just think he has made tremendous strides. I think there was more there. I do. As I always say, the more important thing I think is he thinks there's more there."
Sanheim set a regular-season career high with 30:19 minutes in the Flyers' 4-3 shootout loss last Saturday to the defending champion Panthers. Two nights later, he topped it with 30:23 minutes in the Flyers' 4-3 shootout win Monday over the Sharks. Emil Andrae was Sanheim's defensive partner and played a career-high 25:40 minutes.
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"I won't complain," the 22-year-old rookie said with a smile. "I love to play hockey."
Sanheim, too. The 28-year-old didn't practice Wednesday for maintenance reasons. It wouldn't be surprising if the Flyers had to implore him to stay off the ice. The only time he played more minutes than these past two games was the 2020 playoffs, when the Flyers won a second-round Game 6 over the Islanders in double overtime. He played 33:48 that night.
"He has got a good engine," Tortorella said. "I think he has brought his game to a whole different level."
The Flyers have needed it. They lost Sanheim's top-pair partner Cam York to an upper-body injury when they dropped to 1-5-1 with a sixth straight loss. Without York, the Flyers have found a way to stabilize by earning at least a point in six of their last nine games (5-3-1). Over that stretch, Sanheim has put up five points (two goals, three assists) and only a minus-1 rating in 26:37 minutes. So far this season, he leads the Flyers in minutes per game (24:57) and blocked shots (33).
What has impressed Tortorella perhaps the most is the "tremendous improvements" Sanheim has made as a leader.
"He's never going to be a guy to do a lot of talking, he's just not built that way," the head coach said. "As I've said to him, anytime he wants to step up in the locker room and say something, tell the coaches to, 'Get out, let me handle this,' whatever he wants to do, I think he has the right to do that. I think he has earned that way.
"I'm not sure what goes on when we're not in there, if he does that, but the way he has carried himself and the way he has just improved in all facets, on and off the ice, he has turned into that for us."
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