How does Travis Konecny’s new deal stack up around the NHL?

Travis Konecny re-signed with the Philadelphia Flyers on an 8-year, $70 million contract extension that will see the feisty forward remain in the City of Brotherly Love for most of the next decade.  In discussions with those surrounding the team, there has been nothing short of praise directed toward the way Travis Konecny carries himself on and off the ice and an extension has been a long time coming for the winger.

Travis Konecny pens a historic extension

When the contract extension was announced on Wednesday afternoon, there was little surprise that the 27-year-old stayed in Philadelphia to help lead the Flyers back to the postseason. Konecny believes that opportunity is closer than many Flyers fans currently think. 

With the terms of the agreement official at 8 yr./8.75M, comparables can now be made to see where this NHL contract decision stacks up against the other teams in the league. The most surprising thing I found in research – most teams DON’T re-sign their 30-goal scorers as you will see below. For clarity, the search criteria used for comparisons were 25+-year-old wingers with multiple 30+ goals or 60+ point seasons.   

One Of Us, One of Us!

A teammate of Flyers GM Daniel Briere, winger Jake Voracek signed an eerily similar deal with the Philadelphia hockey franchise back in 2012-13 at $66 million over 8 years. Granted, the value of money has changed regarding the salary cap in the decade since the deal was signed. However, the stats themselves were similar enough for comparison between the two Flyers forwards. 

The Flyers prized the playmaking ability of Jake Voracek to generate 40+ assists per season helping to drive the offense during the mid-to-late 2010s. Voracek topped out at approximately 20 goals per season over the first four years of his extension, while still providing the expected 40+ assists per year finishing with a yearly average of 65 points. While he has not played since 2022-23, Voracek’s contract is entering the final year of service in 2024 under the Utah Hockey Club organization. 

In comparison, Travis Konecny signed his deal with around following a similar statistical trajectory. Konecny’s last two seasons in Philly have been 30+ goals and 30+ assists for an average in the ballpark of 65 points per season.

Homegrown Re-Signings w/ +$8M valuation

Ok, fine, so you want some more recent comparables, eh?   That was shockingly tough to find teams that re-signed their players in the contract grouping.  Most teams make the trade, as you will soon see with San Jose and Pittsburgh/Carolina. 

One team that didn’t trade a 30+ goal scorer was Tampa Bay in 2018 when they re-signed Nikita Kucherov to an 8-year, 76M deal that averaged 9.5M per season. Kucherov, a perennial 40-goal and 100+ point scorer in Tampa, was rewarded with his contract following two 100+ seasons in 2018 & 2019. While Travis Konecny has not showcased the 100+ point potential that Kucherov did early in his career, this comparison serves to show the going rate for a winger who can find the back of the 30+ times in a season. 

Looking at the other comparables via PuckPedia.com for a similar contract, I noticed much younger players (21-24) that were signing $8M+ deals with teams paying upfront to capitalize on early career potential and keep them in town. Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov (7.75M) signed a massive 8-year, $62M extension at 21 years old in 2021. Since signing his extension, the Russian winger has scored 30 goals once while averaging under 55+ points per season due to some injury issues.

Traded Player Comps For Travis Konecny’s Contract

The best comps for the Travis Konecny situation are players that were traded before landing that long-term, multi-million dollar contract. Two names immediately came to mind – New Jersey’s Timo Meier and Tampa Bay’s Jake Guentzel. 

Timo Meier was undoubtedly the San Jose Sharks’ best player when GM Mike Grier dealt the restricted free-agent forward to New Jersey in February 2023. On the heels of back-to-back 30+ goal seasons in San Jose, the Devils handed Meier an 8-year, $70M contract to cover ages 26-34. In the first full season with Jersey, Meier produced 28 goals and 52 points. In comparison, Konecny finished with more goals (33) and points (68) on an almost identical contract as the Swiss-born Meier. 

Jake Guentzel was traded from Pittsburgh to Carolina for the 2024 Playoff season. When Carolina was unwilling to re-sign the forward to a +$9M deal, his rights were swiftly moved to a team that would sign that contract, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa wasted little time locking up Guentzel to a 7-year, 63M contract with a $9M cap hit this offseason. If Tampa had added an eighth year to JG’s deal, the final figure would look the same as Konecny (8yr/$70M). Guentzel, 29, has averaged 70+ points per season over the last three, mostly spent with the cross-state rival Penguins. Guentzel will start his Tampa Bay Lightning career this fall.

AP Photo/Matt Slocum