Matthew Konan

Zach Hopkins

2015-02-02

Konan

Matthew Konan, D

Shoots: L

Height: 6-4

Weight: 186lbs

Born: 1991-09-03

Hometown: Tustin, CA

Drafted: Signed as FA with Flyers, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

Observations:

April 2018 – Matthew Konan has retired from hockey. Do not draft. Peter Harling

Feb 2015 – Konan, a WHL alum registering 107 points during his career with Medicine Hat, has yet to dress this season for Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. The 23 year old defensive prospect has been battling post-concussion syndrome since December 2013. Although he skated in two NHL games during the 2012-13 season with the Flyers, he faces an uphill battle if he is able to return as the club has quite a few prospects who are higher on the pecking order including Sam Morin, Shayne Gostisbehere, Travis Sanheim, Robert Hagg and Mark Alt to name a few. Hopefully for Konan, the concussion issue will not define his career like it did for former teammate Marc-Andre Bourdon who was forced to retire. Zach Hopkins

 

March 2013 – Matt Konan made his major junior debut in 2007 with the Medicine Hat Tigers. In just over half of a season with the Tigers as a rookie Konan tallied just four assists, but remained a steady plus-5 through 42 games.  The following two seasons were consistent for the California-native. Although he only posted 12 and 20 points respectively, Konan combined for a plus-27 through those seasons, also sitting in the box for 170 minutes. Konan was draft eligible in 2009 (after his second season) but went undrafted. He attended Los Angeles Kings’ training camp in 2010, but returned to Medicine Hat for a fourth season after failing to receive a contract offer. On a strong Tigers team Konan played bottom-pair minutes, but provided sandpaper on the back end, chipping in offensively (four goals and 13 assist) and holding a plus-18 through 61 games. It was in 2011-2012 (his overage season) where Konan really hit his stride.  Over 72 games he scored a career-high nine goals and 45 assists, playing big minutes for the Tigers. This performance earned him an entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers in the spring of 2012. Since then he has played a handful of games in the ECL for the Trenton Titans, half of a season for the AHL-affiliate Adirondack Phantoms, and a pair of games for the Flyers. Although he is certainly taking the scenic route to play in the big leagues, Konan is a testament to the value of playing through the ranks. He started in the WHL as a 16-year old and worked his way to becoming a big time defensemen in Medicine Hat. Konan brings a lot of grit to a blue line and has shown he has decent offensive awareness. What is most encouraging is Konan’s ability to make the right play in his own zone. Playing defense in the big leagues takes a lot of maturity, once again a testament to his time spent at the junior level. With big changes most likely happening in Philadelphia, Konan is going to get his shot in the fall.

 

 

Fantasy Outlook: C

Matt Konan has proven he can play with some serious grit and can probably play as a four-six defensemen. He puts up the typical defensemen stats that fantasy owners love; hits, blocked shots, and he’s not going to hurt your plus-minus. It will be interesting to see what Paul Holmgren does with his roster in the next 6 months, but it’s very likely Konan gets a shot at a top six role next season.

 

Footage:

Medicine Hat Tigers Profile: Matt Konan

 

{youtube} zFI1wrtPAtY{/youtube}

 

{source}{/source}

LATEST PROFILE UPDATES

Name Fantasy Upside NHL Certainty
Zachary L’Heureux 5.0 6.5
Pavel Mintyukov 8.5 9.5
Josh Doan 7.0 4.5
Graham Sward 6.0 4.5
Sean Behrens 7.0 7.0
Rhett Gardner 3.0 4.0
Samuel Ersson 7.2 6.8
Adam Brooks 3.0 5.0
Helge Grans 7.5 7.0
Adam Ginning 4.5 7.0

LATEST RADIO & DRAFTCASTS

[gs-fb-comments]

FIND US ON FACEBOOK