Dare Published: 10-31-2022
Photo Credit: Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire
A 29-year-old standout in Sean Couturier has proved to the entire league that he’s a force to be reckoned with, when healthy. Coots is the heart and soul of this young Flyers team, and without his services it really depletes this team down the middle. There was no doubt he was the MVP of the team in 2020-21, and it might be because is no stranger to playing through pain.
Couturier played through a torn in MCL in games 5 and 6 versus the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2018 playoffs, and he mustered four goals and two assists in those aforementioned games. Unfortunately, he had back revisionary surgery on October 27 in Dallas, Texas, and he will be out three to four months (February/March return), “They went into the same area, and did work on the same area,” said Flyers’General Manager Chuck Fletcher. “We are still hopeful he can come back and play.”
“Hopefully this brings relief for Sean on the return to play protocol. At least there is some clarity on a timeline.” – Chuck Fletcher
As Fletcher alluded two above, at least there’s a clear understanding of when he could possibly return or not. That’s much better than saying he’s week to week, or day-to-day. Yes, this is a setback, but hopefully things have gotten ironed out this go around. For those that forget, he was considered week to week approximately two weeks before Training Camp. Then in mid-october he said he was feeling great and skating, unfortunately he suffered this setback soon thereafter and could not skate.
Coots missed a large part of last season, which turned out to be a season ending injury. He underwent successful back surgery and wound up missing the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign. Couturier was sidelined from December 29 and has yet toi play a meaningful hockey game since. It was labeled as an ‘Upper-body” injury by the Flyers, but Couturier ended up having surgery to not further delay his possible return.
A few weeks ago Couturier said, “I feel good. I had a long recovery. Took longer than I thought, a lot of ups and downs, but now I’m feeling good and ready to go. I’m excited to get going again.” Herniated discs are no joke, and they are very painful, especially for athletes. Really there is no certainty with this situation, so if he does return to play this season it’s a bonus.
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Accountability will be a missing element from Couturier on and off the ice. This was a strong word that was used for the Flyers before the 2022-23 season began. Couturier is no stranger to holding himself accountable, and that rubs off on his teammates, as well. Just how much can Couturier give with being on the shelf is anyone’s guess. Maybe he will be around the team eventually, while receiving treatments for his aforementioned injury, who knows. All we know is Couturier was still in Texas this past Saturday to make sure his prognosis was good before he headed back to Philly.
Couturier prides himself on being the best, but with this injury that cannot be expected, it’s just not fair to him to expect that. Now he needs someone to help him battle through this pain for once, but that is a tall task for any player. Coots plays in all situations and does them well. This is a major blow to the orange and black, but it appears the Flyers are in no rush to replace him on the roster, per Chuck Fletcher. It appears the Flyers will sign Artem Anisimov when he gets healthy.
The Flyers closed the first month of the season out with a 5-2-1 record, but is this sustainable without the services of Couturier and Cam Atkinson for an extended period of time? One can hope, but I think Fletcher should act now before it’s too late. If Fletcher chooses not to make a move, then the easiest move of acquiring Dylan Strome this past offseason may come back to haunt him, and Fletcher could lose his job in the process.
