Kicking off the month of April, the Philadelphia Flyers made a surprising announcement in the activation of forward Travis Konecny from injured reserve.
The team’s leading scorer – still – has been out of the lineup since the 20th of February after having to exit midway through their game against the Calgary Flames.
As for Sean Couturier, the news that he will not play this season is not so surprising considering the cautious approach the organization wants to take with their top-line centreman.
Konecny was enjoying a career-season with 27 goals and 54 points through 52 games before having to leave mid-game against Calgary in February. Through his first 36 games this season, he had 24 goals and 46 points and was well on his way to smashing every career-high he had.
He had scored goals 22, 23, and 24 against the Washington Capitals on January 11th, matching the number he hit in 3 consecutive seasons. He then went the next 13 games without a goal and only recorded 3 assists as the Flyers winning ways came to a screeching halt as well.
Konecny broke through and set a career high in goals against the Seattle Kraken, scoring twice in a very dastardly defeat on February 16th. He scored 3 goals and added 2 assists in his final 3 games before his injury.
Konecny was the heartbeat of the Flyers offense as evidenced by the fact that he still leads the team in points. In second sits Kevin Hayes with 53 points but in 73 games, and he has gone 20 games without a goal – with only 6 assists in that span as well. In Konecny’s absence, however, we have seen the rejuvenation of youth as Noah Cates, Morgan Frost, Owen Tippett, and Joel Farabee have led the way in convincing fashion.
Konecny’s return will be a welcoming sight for a Flyers team that is currently riding a 7-game point streak, having gone 5-0-2 in that stretch. He should re-enter the top-6 and should figure back into his role as the pacemaker of the team. Averaging a career-best 20:03 of ice time per game this year, he had also had 167 shots, which at the time of his injury was tops on their leaderboard.
As for Couturier, the veteran centreman will have to wait until September to suit up again for the Flyers. There was some hope that maybe he could make a return this season in the final stretch, however the organization decided it was best not to rush him back and to wait things out. He last played for the Flyers in December of 2021 and was raring to get into some game action.
Couturier suffered a season-ending back injury in 2021-22, underwent successful back surgery in February of 2022, was set to return fresh and healthy for the start of the 2022-23 season, but unfortunately suffered a setback in the same spot before training camp. The original timeline had him slated to return somewhere in February-March and even though he’s been visibly practicing, the cautious approach is the one the Flyers will be taking.
In the first year of an 8-year contract, Couturier has been sorely missed but at least there’s been some optimism with how he’s been feeling up to this point. Back injuries are finicky, especially lower back/disk injuries, so with 8 games left, they felt it was better off keeping him on the mend. It is killing him that he hasn’t set foot on the ice in a meaningful game for over 400+ days, but he understands that it’s the right decision for his future and the future of the team. At this point, we should see him suit up in 2023-24, hopefully healthy, fresh, and hungry.
Couturier said, “I’ve been working hard all year to put myself in a situation that I’d play again and I’m not. So obviously disappointed. I almost feel like I let down the team. But it is what it is. It’s a team decision.
“Sometimes adversity is good. It’s been a while. I’ve had adversity off the ice, but on the ice, it’s another thing. It’s probably what I missed the most. I think it’s important to all grow as a team together and I want to be a part of it.”
A lineup with Couturier, Cates, and Scott Laughton down the middle should be exciting, especially for a head coach like John Tortorella. Couturier and Tortorella seem like a match made in heaven and it’s a great sign to hear that the head coach respects his work ethic and loves his “stubbornness”.
“Coots is aggravated. And I love it,” said Tortorella. “Because I think that’s why he’s the player that he is. And so he’s going to have to eat it for a little bit. And I think it helps him get even more ready for a pretty strenuous camp coming up here when he starts again with us.”
