Sean Couturier Fulfills The Prophecy, Is Named The 20th Captain In Flyers History
Len Redkoles. Getty Images.Jeff Carter and Mike Richards liked to party.
That's the only reason why Sean Couturier is a Flyer in the first place. Those two loved to hit the town and burn it down while they were in Philly. Peter Laviolette didn't like that shit and decided to act like a nerd about it. He wanted to change the culture in the locker room, so he traded Mike Richards to the Kings and sent Jeff Carter packing to Columbus in exchange for Jakub Voracek and the 8th pick in that summer's draft.
With the 8th pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers are proud to select from Drummondville in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League…Sean Couturier.
Flyers fans have known ever since this kid was 19-years-old that he was destined to wear the 'C' for this team. Here was a kid who couldn't even legally purchase a beer yet, and he was being tasked with shutting down some of the most lethal players in the world night after night. Most notably, he seemed to be the only guy in the league who could shut down Evgeni Malkin at that time. Malkin had already won a Stanley Cup, a Conn Smythe, a Hart Trophy, and a couple Art Ross Trophies at that time. And here comes Sean Couturier making him look like a 4th line plug out there.
He quickly became one of the best defensive forwards in the game, and finally won the Selke he deserved in the 2020 season. That was after his offensive game finally caught up to his defensive abilities, and had a few monster seasons in a row at just under a point per game. There weren't many players in the league more impactful than Sean Couturier from 2017-2020. He was eating minutes, shutting down the opposing team's best players, and scoring 30 goals. You can't ask for much more than that.
So the moment Claude Giroux was traded to Florida towards the end of the 2021-22 season, you figured it was only a matter of time before the 'C' made it's natural progression to end up on Couturier's sweater. Only issue was that Couturier only played 29 games that season after dealing with a bunch of different injuries and getting back surgery. Then he ended up missing the entire 2022-23 season because of that back surgery. He hadn't played in 663 days leading up to this year.
You had to wonder if we'd ever see Sean Couturier play for the Flyers again. You had to wonder if we'd even see Sean Couturier play hockey again. The Flyers had this weird wave of guys just disappearing after injuries and never to be heard from again. But Sean Couturier is back and he's the exact Sean Couturier this city fell in love with 10 years ago, but with the experience of a grizzled old vet.
Also along with Sean Couturier finally getting the 'C', the Flyers also slapped an 'A' on Travis Konecny's sweater for the first time.
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As much as I hate to give them credit, the Boston Bruins seem like a pretty solid team to build your blueprint around. You have your perennial Selke candidate wearing the 'C' like Bergeron, you have your shit stirring menace wearing the 'A' like Marchand, and then you find some young European freak show who can score at will like Pastrnak to tie it all together. The Flyers have Couturier, Konecny, and Matvei Michkov on the way. That's a team you can believe in.
Sidenote: Obviously there's a chance that Scott Laughton is moved at the trade deadline. I'm sure the Flyers don't necessarily want to deal him, but if the market for a center keeps going crazy and you can end up getting a 1st back for him? They'd have to make that move. And if that's the case, I'd imagine it's either Sanheim for Farabee up next to get the 'A'.