Kyle Phillippi
Flyers fans and players were piling onto the Travis Konecny bandwagon during the preseason when the 24th overall pick from this year’s draft went on to have one goal and one assist, in addition to some “wow” moments, in two exhibition games.
Well, that bandwagon may be driven by none other than Danny Briere, who was asked about which younger player in particular he likes.
“I was really impressed with [Travis] Konency in training camp,” Briere said during a press conference in Voorhees. “A smaller guy that stirs it up, he’s nonstop, it was fun to see and obviously because I’m a fan of the game, too, I love the Flyers.
Briere and Konecny do draw similar comparisions with both players standing at 5-foot-10 and a tick shy of 180 pounds. They’re playing styles are even similar to an extent in that Konecny is a bit chippy on the ice — pesky if you will — with some real talent.
Konecny leads the OHL with 22 points in just 13 games.
“As a fan, it’s kind of like we have to keep him and see what he can do a little bit more,” Briere said with a grin. “But I also think it’s the right thing to do and kind of let him develop and let him take the next step and be the go to guy on his team. I think there’s a lot of positives to that because you don’t want to rush anyone.”
Next season, Danny, next season.