Perhaps the current Travis Sanheim situation should have been anticipated even before the season started. After all, Sanheim took a seat for the opener against the San Jose Sharks on October 4, despite the fact that he won a spot on the final roster. If you interpret player usage in the first game of the season as the coach's view of his “ideal” lineup, unfettered by injuries and hot/cold streaks, the fact that veteran Brandon Manning checked in as a third-pair defenseman rather than Sanheim was very telling.
However, conventional wisdom quickly re-entered the picture. Teams generally don't keep a 21-year-old prospect just to scratch him nightly, and Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol made the corresponding lineup audible the following day, swapping Sanheim in to replace Manning for Game 2.