Scout’s Analysis: What Travis Sanheim will bring to Team Canada
With Shea Theodore out for the rest of the tournament, Team Canada will put Travis Sanheim into the lineup Saturday against the United States. Jason Bukala provides a scouting report on what Canada can expect to get from Sanheim.
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When Team Canada announced its 4 Nations roster back in December, one of the more surprising names to many was Travis Sanheim.
While most roster projections debated the likes of Mackenzie Weegar, Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, Evan Bouchard, Brandon Montour or Thomas Chabot, it was Philadelphia’s 28-year-old who got the nod and began the tournament as Canada’s seventh defenceman.
Now, with Shea Theodore forced out of the rest of the tournament, week-to-week with an upper-body injury, Sanheim will go into the lineup Saturday against Team USA.
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Meeting with the media on Thursday, Sanheim said it’s a dream come true to suit up for Canada, something he did at the 2022 world championship and the 2016 world juniors. Sanheim described what he’ll bring to this star-studded lineup.
“Just a solid two-way game. Guy that can skate and move the puck well,” he said. “I’m used to playing against top guys so I feel comfortable in that role. Just bring a lot of simple plays and the ability to play at both ends.”
Like Theodore, Sanheim is a left shot, so he could slide in next to Drew Doughty to neatly take the injured defenceman’s place. But Canadian head coach Jon Cooper could decide to shake up his pairs, something we’ll get a better view on when the team skates in full again on Friday.
For a scouting look at what kind of defenceman Sanheim is and how he’ll help Team Canada, we turn to our own Jason Bukala.
SCOUT’S ANALYSIS
It might have come as a bit of a surprise to some people when Sanheim was named to Team Canada’s roster, but he’s had a very strong year in Philadelphia and lands in the top 10 in many of the league-wide categories for defencemen. I don’t expect much of a drop off from Theodore to Sanheim. He’s plenty capable of sliding comfortably into a match-up and primary penalty killing role for Team Canada for the rest of the tournament.
Sanheim leads the Philadelphia Flyers in ice time. He averages over 24 minutes per game and he’s deployed in all situations. His role on the power play is a secondary one, however, with his primary minutes coming at even strength and the penalty kill.
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4 Nations Face-Off
With the inaugural edition of the 4 Nations Face-Off fast approaching, be sure to catch up on all the latest news about the highly anticipated best-on-best event. Puck drops on Feb. 12, 2025, on Sportsnet.
What impresses me most about Sanheim is how well rounded a player he has become. The 28-year-old, left shot defenceman uses his size (6-foot-4, 222 pounds) to his advantage. He isn’t physically punishing but he gets in shooting lanes to block shots. Sanheim has been credited with 51 hits and 126 shot blocks this year. He has the seventh-most shot blocks in the entire league this season.
Offensively, Sanheim provides better than secondary scoring at even strength, contributing 6G-21A for the Flyers. All of his goals, and 17 of his assists, have come at even strength. A deeper dive into his stats reveals he has also contributed two assists on the penalty-kill, and four game-winning goal helpers, including two in overtime.
The Flyers trust Sanheim when the team is skating 4-on-4 or 3-on-3 in overtime. He has the commitment defensively, but also provides small area quickness and open ice speed that many defenders his size aren’t capable of providing. Sanheim, according to NHL Edge data, lands in the 97th percentile for defencemen with speed bursts over 20 mph. He’s been clocked with 93 bursts over the league-wide average of 21.5 mph. It’s interesting to note he is quick out of the blocks, but his open ice pace lands in the 83rd percentile of league wide speed. That’s still pretty good for a two-way defenceman who logs the amount of ice time Sanheim does, though.
Team Canada has assembled an offensively gifted roster. Every player has as skill set that includes creativity with the puck. It’s not a team that is going to waste opportunities when they have possession. In that light, Sanheim is very efficient distributing the puck and selective about how he directs shots on goal. He’s a pretty aggressive shooter who’s been credited with 102 shots on goal, but what stands out to me are the locations on the ice where he directs plays on net.
Sanheim has the agility to walk the blue line to open up shooting and passing lanes in the offensive zone, but he doesn’t simply put his head down and rip shots from distance without a plan. The following graphics display which quadrants of the offensive zone Sanheim has directed his shots on goal from this season.
He reads how plays are developing and uses his quickness, agility, and length to jump into premium scoring areas before directing plays on net. His 39 shots on goal from the mid-range slot area, between the face-off dots, easily eclipses the 25 shots he has taken from long-range. His shot selection leads to more quality scoring chances for his group when he’s on the ice.
Sanheim started the tournament as the extra defenceman for Team Canada, but it won’t surprise me to see him playing a significant role as he enters the lineup in place of Theodore. His combination of size, speed, shot blocking and secondary offence easily fits into the style of game Canada plays.
