Philadelphia Flyers rookie Travis Konecny will be a healthy scratch for the first time in his career during Friday’s game against the San Jose Sharks.
It’s a surprising move by head coach Dave Hakstol considering the 19-year-old had two assists in the team’s last game against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.
Prior to the season, there was little hope that Konecny would even make the team but after storming out of the gate with seven points in his first eight games.
More recently, he has lost his scoring touch. Prior to the game against the Blues, Konecny had just two assists in 10 games and has not found the back of the net since Nov. 11 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This isn’t the first time this season that Hakstol has benched a young player this season. On Nov. 17, Calder Trophy runner-up Shayne Gostisbehere was a healthy scratch against the Winnipeg Jets.
While Gostisbehere didn’t come out of his benching and start producing like he did in 2015-16, the Flyers did figure something out and go on a 10-game winning streak between Nov. 27 and Dec. 14.
