As Rick Tocchet was being introduced as the Flyers' new head coach on Friday morning, he was asked about what players on the current roster he might've been familiar with already, or was most looking forward to working with.
Tocchet didn't want to run through the entire list while he sat atop the stage on the floor of the Wells Fargo Center, but he did put a spotlight on Travis Sanheim.
The Flyers' leading defenseman skated for Team Canada on its way to gold during the 4 Nations Face-Off back in February. Tocchet was one of the assistant coaches for Jon Cooper's Canadian staff, and on Friday, he recalled the scouting process around Sanheim leading up to the NHL's international tournament and then what he saw out of the 29-year-old blueliner once there.
It was eye-opening.
Explained Tocchet: "I was in that meeting about what players, what defense, and I remember he was, I forget where they had him on the depth chart, I remember we discussed [the defensemen], and a couple of the high-level coaches, the Coopers of the world, we all talked about 'Man, this guy can play.'"
"Then when he made the roster, how well he played in the Four Nations, I mean, I'm telling you, I was behind that bench, and that's high-level stuff," Tocchet continued about Sanheim. "I had the best seat in the house, and to see him perform with the best defensemen in the league, that's a big plus.
"To get a front-line defenseman like that on your team is a plus for me."
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Sanheim has come a long way as one of the Flyers' top-pairing defensemen within the past couple of years, and really started drawing attention league-wide last season with an excellent start that built up his Team Canada case.
He made the cut as a depth blueliner when the rosters for 4 Nations were revealed in early December, but by the end of the tournament, he was skating well on a pairing with St. Louis' Colton Parayko and even had a few instances where he was jumping in on the rush with some of the league's elite offensive talents like Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid.
In the final game against the U.S., Sanheim skated 18:29. His tandem with Parayko played a crucial role in Canada stifling the U.S.'s offense, and by the end, he got to celebrate a milestone victory at center ice in a career that really hasn't had many of them at the NHL level.
Tocchet's job now is to, eventually, help create a path toward those kinds of wins in Philadelphia.
He believes Sanheim will play a key part in getting there, Travis Konecny (who was also along for the ride with Team Canada), too, along with the Flyers' rising star in Matvei Michkov.
"I think I can really help some of these guys, Tocchet said. "They've got some star players here that are in the making, and that's my job to really maximize those guys."
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