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.
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 …