Snapshots: Couturier, Hayes, Broberg
Last season was filled with injury and disappointment for the Philadelphia Flyers but with a new head coach in town, they are ready to try again. One of the biggest question marks was the health of Sean Couturier, who underwent back surgery in February.
All clear, says the veteran center, who spoke with the media today and explained that while there were “a lot of ups and downs” in his recovery, he is fully healthy and cleared for training camp. Couturier played just 29 games last season, recording 17 points.
- Not only that but Kevin Hayes is also fully healthy after his own surgery in January, telling reporters that he hasn’t had any other procedures since then – something that wasn’t clear given his recent history of re-injury. Hayes returned in March and played 28 games down the stretch, recording 22 points in them, to take his season total to 31. Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic expressed his optimism that Hayes can return to his previous form, given how well he played down the stretch.
- There’s an interesting sight at the Edmonton Oilers informal skates, as Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic notes that Philip Broberg is mostly playing the right side. Part of that may simply be the absence of Cody Ceci, who Nugent-Bowman reports was not there today, but given how many left-handed defensemen will be in camp. Adding some familiarity on the right side may help Broberg establish himself as a full-time NHL player after splitting time between the Oilers and Bakersfield Condors last season.
Sean Couturier Out Rest Of Season Following Back Surgery
The Philadelphia Flyers will be without alternate captain Sean Couturier for the remainder of the season after he underwent successful back surgery this morning. The procedure was performed by Dr. Jon Yoon at Pennsylvania Hospital. General manager Chuck Fletcher explained that the recovery period is approximately three months and the medical staff is confident Couturier will be back to full strength in time for training camp.
Fletcher explained that surgery is also potentially on the table for Ryan Ellis and Kevin Hayes, giving the latter a “50-50” chance to return this season.
The tenor of Fletcher’s press conference today was clearly one of defeat as he looks forward to next season. The 2021-22 campaign is basically already over for the Flyers despite them having played just 46 games. With a 15-23-8 record, major injuries to several key players, and a Metropolitan Division that contains several difficult opponents, the playoffs are off the table for the eighth-place Flyers.
Once again these announcements will lead to plenty of speculation about the future of Claude Giroux, who remains one of the top trade candidates in the league. The veteran forward is on an expiring contract and is now on a team that not only is losing games but also top players seemingly every few days.
For Couturier, his season is ending after 29 games and just 17 points. That’s the lowest total since his difficult sophomore campaign and will rob him of the chance of hitting 500 career points this year. A Selke winner in 2020, Couturier’s injury and absence have been some of the biggest factors in Philadelphia’s demise this year.
A back surgery, whether the staff expects a full recovery or not, is also a concern given the fact that Couturier signed a new eight-year, $62MM contract extension in the offseason. This was the last year of his discount deal and next year he’ll suddenly carry a cap hit of $7.75MM. Even with Giroux and others like Rasmus Ristolainen coming off the books, the team has more than $68MM committed to just ten players for 2022-23.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Philadelphia Flyers
In the spirit of the holiday season, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season passes the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Philadelphia Flyers.
What are the Flyers thankful for?
Their new coach.
It’s hard to gauge time with all the postponements, but the Flyers have only played eight games since firing Alain Vigneault on December 6. Since then, however, the Flyers have either gotten lucky or turned a corner, going 5-2-2 under interim coach Mike Yeo so far. The two regulation losses were their first two games under Yeo, a 7-5 loss to Colorado on December 6 and a 3-0 loss to New Jersey on December 8. Since then, they’ve yet to lose in regulation and have won by multiple goals in two of their five wins.
The defensive bleeding is starting to improve, albeit slowly. Philadelphia hasn’t allowed more than three goals since that Colorado loss.
Better goaltending this season will help the Flyers in the long run, and under Yeo, it looks like the team is starting to turn a corner in front of Carter Hart and Martin Jones. If Ryan Ellis can stay healthy later in the season, he’ll be a big help as well.
Who are the Flyers thankful for?
Not much was made of the Atkinson-for-Jakub Voracek swap this summer. It was a trade of ageing wingers who’d underperformed in recent years, and it allowed the Flyers to gain some salary cap flexibility for future moves. That trade’s paid dividends for both teams, though, especially the Flyers. Atkinson holds the team lead with 12 goals in 31 games and has the best +/- rating on the team by far (+13).
He’s on a 32-goal pace, which would be the third-highest total of his career. COVID hit right after his career-high 41-goal campaign in 2018-19, but he’s now already hit his 12-goal mark in 2019-20 and is only three goals shy of his 2020-21 mark. The +/- mark is especially impressive for a team that’s had the defensive struggles of Philadelphia. That +13 rating is already tied for the second-best in his career. It may be a stretch to say it’s a career season for Atkinson given the 41-goal mark, but it’s certainly one of his best.
What would the Flyers be even more thankful for?
Health and more production from Sean Couturier.
Philadelphia’s defensive struggles this year were exacerbated by a somewhat unexpected lack of scoring. Couturier’s still been as trustworthy as ever defensively, but after signing an eight-year, $62MM extension this offseason, he’s got just six goals and 17 points through 29 games. It’s not awful by any stretch, but he’s been hovering around a point-per-game for the past few seasons and the dip is somewhat concerning.
It won’t be happening anytime soon, though. Couturier was injured recently and team announced he’s now out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
What should be on the Flyers’ Holiday Wish list?
A Rasmus Ristolainen deal at the trade deadline.
Philadelphia, barring a miracle, is extremely unlikely to make the playoffs. They are tied for ninth in the conference with the Bruins, but Boston has four games in hand on them. With other teams behind Philadelphia looking to make runs as well, it doesn’t seem like they’ll be able to pull away from the pack by the trade deadline.
The Flyers paid a pretty penny to acquire Ristolainen from Buffalo this offseason, but it just hasn’t worked out. He’s still struggled mightily in his own end, and he has just eight points in 29 games this year. The team needs cap space and assets, and shipping out Ristolainen in the last year of his deal would allow them to at least recoup some assets for the ill-advised acquisition.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Sean Couturier Out Week To Week
The Flyers will be without one of their top forwards for a little while as the team announced late Thursday (Twitter link) that Sean Couturier is out with an upper-body injury and has been placed on injured reserve. He is listed as being out week to week.
It has been a tough year for the 29-year-old who has struggled offensively compared to his production from the last few seasons. Through 29 games, Couturier has just six goals and 11 assists, his lowest point per game average since 2016-17. He continues to play a big role defensively as always and is winning nearly 56% of his faceoffs but as someone that was penciled in as their top center, that production is somewhat underwhelming although GM Chuck Fletcher revealed earlier this month that Couturier has been playing through a variety of upper-body and lower-body issues this season.
Even with the slower than anticipated start offensively, Couturier will still be a big loss for the Flyers who are still playing him more than 20 minutes per night. After clearing COVID protocol earlier this week, the hope was that he’d be ready to return to the lineup but now, they’re hoping that he won’t be out more than a few weeks as they look to hang around the mix in the battle for the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia Flyers Add Sean Couturier, Ryan Ellis To COVID Protocol
The Philadelphia Flyers announced Sunday that center Sean Couturier was placed in the NHL’s COVID protocol on December 21, while defenseman Ryan Ellis and two staff members entered protocol today.
There are now five Flyers skaters in COVID protocol, joining forwards Kevin Hayes, Morgan Frost, and Max Willman.
Couturier, after hovering near a point-per-game pace for the last three seasons, has just six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 29 games this year (0.59 points per game). Despite that, he’s still averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per game and is steady as ever defensively.
Ellis was already out of the lineup with a lower-body injury, but was expected to return around the holiday break. Injuries have limited him to just four games this season, his first with the Flyers after arriving via trade from the Nashville Predators.
Couturier will miss the next two of Philadelphia’s games and could be eligible to return on New Years Day against the Los Angeles Kings. Ellis, as he was just added today, will miss more time. If healthy, he could return on January 6 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, missing the team’s next four games at the least.
Snapshots: Couturier, Oilers, Chechelev
The eight-year, $62MM contract extension that the Flyers and center Sean Couturier agreed on last week appeared to be a bit of a bargain considering what top pivots have been getting and the scarcity of impact centers hitting the open market. Speaking with reporters, including Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Couturier suggested that he left some money on the table, saying that he didn’t want to “break the bank”, calling it “another way to try to help the team”. Speculatively speaking, given that GM Chuck Fletcher called the 28-year-old their best player right now, it will be worth monitoring to see if they try to make Couturier’s contract the ceiling in terms of their contract hierarchy.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Oilers are believed to be looking for a right-shot defenseman that could split time between the NHL and AHL, suggests Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal. Edmonton has limited veteran depth when it comes to their minor league pool so having someone with some NHL experience that can play on the third pairing when needed while being able to clear waivers and worth with their prospects would certainly be beneficial. It’s getting close to the time where PTO agreements will start to be signed and it wouldn’t be surprising to see if this is how the Oilers try to fill this spot.
- Flames goaltending prospect Daniil Chechelev will play in North America this season, his agent Aljoša Pilko of CAA Hockey announced (Twitter link). The 20-year-old was a fourth-round pick of Calgary (96th overall) back in 2020 and split last season between the VHL and MHL, playing in 40 games in total. Calgary already has five goalies under contract for 2021-22 so Chechelev may be headed for the USHL as he was selected in the 15th round of their draft by Sioux City back in 2020. That would give him a chance to get acclimated to the smaller North American surface before possibly signing for 2022-23.
Philadelphia Flyers Extend Sean Couturier
The Philadelphia Flyers have signed star center Sean Couturier to an eight-year contract extension that will start in the 2022-23 season. Couturier has one more season on his current deal and would have been an unrestricted free agent next summer. The new extension will carry an average annual value of $7.75MM and runs through 2029-30. Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press reports that it will include a full no-movement clause in the first seven years, and a Couturier will be required to submit a 10-team trade list in the final season. Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher released a statement on the deal:
We are excited to announce Sean’s long term extension with the Flyers today. As one of the premier two-way centers in the NHL, Sean has the rare talent to shut down opposing team’s top players while also contributing at a high offensive level. Throughout his 10 year career with the Flyers, he has proven to be the ultimate teammate. He carries an enormous presence inside our dressing room due to his preparation, determination and drive to win.
CapFriendly provides the full contract breakdown:
- 2022-23: $1.75MM salary + $6.0MM signing bonus
- 2023-24: $4.0MM salary + $5.0MM signing bonus
- 2024-25: $4.0MM salary + $5.0MM signing bonus
- 2025-26: $4.0MM salary + $5.0MM signing bonus
- 2026-27: $1.75MM salary + $6.0MM signing bonus
- 2027-28: $1.5MM salary + $5.0MM signing bonus
- 2028-29: $1.5MM salary + $5.0MM signing bonus
- 2029-30: $1.5MM salary + $5.0MM signing bonus
There’s absolutely no doubt that Couturier is one of the Flyers’ most important (if not the most important) players, and every day that passed was getting him closer to unrestricted free agency. Still, this is a huge commitment for the Philadelphia front office, given that he’ll turn 30 just a few months into the first year of the extension.
Currently 28, Couturier is one of the most effective two-way centers in the entire league and took home the Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive player in 2020. He has received votes for the award in nine of ten seasons and has been a finalist in the past. When his offense took a huge step forward in 2017 it turned him from a strong checking forward to a true top-line center, capable of near point-per-game production. He has hit the 30+ goal mark twice, posted a career-high of 76 points in two seasons, and registered 41 points in 45 games this year. There are only a handful of players in the league who can impact the game as much as Couturier, given how effective he is in all three zones.
Still, while this deal may be a bargain in the next few years, it’s hard to expect Couturier to keep up his level of play throughout. He’s now signed for the entire decade and already has more than 700 NHL games under his belt playing a relatively physical style of hockey. There’s no telling what his decline phase will look like, but a deal of this length could become an issue if his offensive production falters even a little bit.
That’s a problem for the future though, as the Flyers try to capitalize on this core and compete for the Stanley Cup. The team went out and revamped the defensive group, bringing in Ryan Ellis, Rasmus Ristolainen and Keith Yandle this offseason, and swapped a pair of veteran forwards by sending Jakub Voracek to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Cam Atkinson. With Claude Giroux signed for just one more season, James Van Riemsdyk under contract for just two, the time is now for the Flyers to strike.
The $7.75MM cap hit ties him with young Andrei Svechnikov, who signed a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes earlier today, for the 49th highest in the league for 2022-23. He will likely be knocked a few spots down by other extensions and contracts, but that’s likely a number that Couturier could have eclipsed on the open market, had he waited. That obviously wouldn’t have come with the eight-year term though, something that likely gives him security through the end of his career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Philadelphia Flyers Activate Sean Couturier
His time was coming near, but the Philadelphia Flyers announced Sunday that they are activating injured forward Sean Couturier off of injured reserve and the Selke Award winner is expected to be in the lineup today against the Washington Capitals.
The 28-year-old was expected to miss at least two weeks after suffering a Costochondral separation, or a rib separation, early in a Jan. 15 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Couturier has only managed to play in two games this season (including just 45 seconds on the day of his injury).
Couturier should immediately provide some much-needed stability to a Flyers team that was expected to be a dominant team this season. While the team is in second place with a 7-3-2 record this year, Philadelphia has struggled quite a bit at the same time, giving up several leads in games.
The Flyers are also expecting Philippe Myers to return to the Flyers’ lineup and is expected to start on the first pairing with Ivan Provorov, according to The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor. Travis Sanheim has come out of the lineup, but no report on whether it is injury-related.
Taxi Squad Shuffle: 01/18/21
It appears as though there will be daily movement this season between the active roster and taxi squad this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of shuffle news each day.
- Pierre Engvall has been promoted from the AHL roster to the taxi squad by the Toronto Maple Leafs after Nick Robertson suffered a knee injury on the weekend. Engvall’s $1.25MM contract actually makes it difficult for him to see the active roster given how tight the cap space is for Toronto, though it could be possible in the coming days should Aaron Dell and Jason Spezza both clear waivers today.
- Given it is a game day for the Montreal Canadiens, Alexander Romanov has been recalled from the taxi squad. The rookie defenseman has been excellent so far for Montreal but will find himself on the taxi squad between games in order for the Canadiens to accrue extra cap space throughout the season.
- The Winnipeg Jets have recalled both Ville Heinola and Kristian Vesalainen from the taxi squad, while moving Tucker Poolman to non-roster status. Poolman has been listed on the COVID Related Protocol Absences list for the last two days.
- The same can be said about Shayne Gostisbehere of the Philadelphia Flyers, who today was given the non-roster designation as well. Connor Bunnaman has been recalled from the taxi squad for the Flyers, who are expected to be without Sean Couturier when they take on the Buffalo Sabres this evening.
- Mackenzie MacEachern has been assigned to the taxi squad by the St. Louis Blues, while Jake Walman is up in his place. Colton Parayko missed practice today but is expected to play, meaning Walman’s recall may just be precautionary.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Kevin Czuczman to their taxi squad from AHL camp, adding some depth to the traveling group after placing Mike Matheson on injured reserve. The team also assigned Sam Lafferty to the taxi squad, while sending Anthony Angello and Frederick Gaudreau to the AHL. Given that Kasperi Kapanen practiced today and is clear of the COVID protocols, expect him to be added to the active roster before tomorrow’s game.
- Linus Ullmark will miss tonight’s game for the Buffalo Sabres due to personal reasons, so the team has recalled Jonas Johansson from the taxi squad. Carter Hutton, the team’s other goaltender, allowed five goals on 27 shots in his first appearance this season.
- The Nashville Predators have recalled Mathieu Olivier from the taxi squad, replacing him with Ben Harpur who was recalled from the AHL. Olivier played in the Predators game on Saturday, recording six hits in just under 12 minutes of ice time.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Sean Couturier To Miss At Least Two Weeks
The Flyers will be without their top center for a little while as the Flyers announced (Twitter link) that Sean Couturier will miss at least the next two weeks with a Costochondral separation. That injury is more commonly known as a rib separation. The injury was sustained on Friday night against Pittsburgh in just his second shift.
Couturier’s absence is a big loss for Philadelphia as he has been one of their top offensive performers in recent years. On top of that, the reigning Selke Trophy winner for the NHL’s top defensive forward is a key part of their penalty kill and has become one of the top players at the faceoff dot in recent years.
With the schedule being more compact than normal, Couturier will likely miss at least the next six or seven games, roughly one-eighth of the entire regular season. His absence could open up an opportunity for Morgan Frost to join the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch in their first two games. Frost had seven points in 20 games while Philadelphia last season and as an offensive-minded forward, a spot in their top six may be an ideal spot to slot him in but even so, filling Couturier’s shoes considering all of the ways he makes an impact for Philadelphia will be tough for him or anyone to accomplish.