Oct 13, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet talks with Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier (14) and right wing Travis Konecny (11) against the Florida Panthers during the first period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
PHILADELPHIA — Sean Couturier is thankful for the little things in life. Specifically, being pain-free when he puts on his socks in the morning.
"There were some mornings, in the summers, where I go to workout and I feel like a 60 or 70-year-old man trying to put my socks on," Couturier said.
It happens far sooner than that, Sean. Trust me.
Over the course of the past two seasons, having no pain while putting his socks on in the morning was considered a big win for Couturier. Celebrating such little victories where motivational. Cathartic even.
It was a small reminder of the player he once was and that he strived to be once again.
After all, his career peaked in 2020 when he was voted the Selke Award winner as the best two-way forward in the NHL.
It was the culmination of a career that started when he was just 18-years-old and was tasked with shutting down top lines in the NHL, most notably guys like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin during their primes.
Always a very good defensive forward, even at such a young age, it took Couturier time to grow into an offensive game for the Flyers, one that was good enough to finally garner Selke consideration.
It wasn't until his seventh year in the league - 2017-2018 - at the age of 25, that he was able to combine the two parts of his game in a noticeable fashion.
He set career highs in goals (31), assists (45) and points (76) and was the Selke runner-up to Los Angeles Kings star Anze Kopitar.
THE CAPTAIN!!! SEAN COUTURIER SCORES!!!
2-0 #FLYERS!!! pic.twitter.com/tsfn4V61GH
He followed that up with another strong season, scoring 33 goals and equaling his career-best point total.
Then, in 2019-20, he finally got over the hump. In a pandemic-shortened season, even though he likely wouldn't have topped those numbers from the season before, unless he had a monstrous finish to the season, his 22-goal, 59-point campaign was enough offensively to supplement the brilliance of his play as a shut down center on the other side of his game to earn him the Selke.
At the time, many felt like it would be the first of many for Couturier.
Then everything went south.
Knee and rib injuries cost him a bunch of games in a shortened 2020-21 season. Then, a back injury early in 2021-22 forced him to miss the rest of the season and the entirety of the next season.
Two back surgeries later, Couturier returned and hardly looked like the same player. For the better part of two years, Couturier struggled. He looked slow. He looked like he couldn't keep up with the game.
Add in the friction he faced with former coach John Tortorella, who buried him on the fourth line, started him on the left wing in last season's home opener against a Rick Tocchet-coached Vancouver team, or flat out scratched him - even though he was recently named the team's captain - and it got worse.
It got so bad, that there were rumors Couturier was looking to get out of dodge. Eventually, things got so untenable with Tortorella and other players, that the Flyers decided to make a change behind the bench with nine games to go last season and give Couturier another chance to prove he can get back to being the player he was before the surgeries.
With a renewed focus and a fresh start with a much more player-friendly coach in Tocchet, Couturier is poised for more than just being a team leader who plays at the whim of the coach.
Monday was a one-game example.
In the Flyers home opener, Couturier scored two goals and added two assists in a spirited 5-2 win over the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.
"I feel great. I feel better than pre-surgery, honestly," Couturier said amidst reminding reporters that it was just one game in a long season, despite how he feels. "It's been going great, knock on wood. Hopefully (I'll) stay healthy."
And the Flyers hope that too.
AN UNREAL PASS FROM TREVOR ZEGRAS!!!
SEAN COUTURIER WITH THE GOAL!!!
3-2 #FLYERS!!! THEY TAKE THE LEAD!!! pic.twitter.com/JjmnIK4JN2
Not because they need him to consistently put up four-point games, although that would be a boon for sure, but he's being asked to do more than he was asked to do under Tortorella.
He's centering what is considered their top line, between Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov. He's on the second power play unit. He kills penalties. He's averaging 19 minutes a night through three games and is still taking all the key faceoffs and winning them at nearly a 60% clip (59.7).
"He plays a 200-foot game, he cares and he's a good human being," Tocchet said of his captain. "You root for guys like that. ... They are hard to find, two-way hockey players like that."
Travis Sanheim, who has been teammates with Couturier longer (ninth season together) than anyone except Konecny (10 seasons), said he sees a throwback version of Couturier out on the ice to start the season.
"(Monday) looked a lot like some of the game I saw before he got hurt," Sanheim said. "That's a good thing for us."
Sure is.
Tocchet credited Couturier with a renewed focus this season, one that wanted to prove a lot of naysayers who felt his career was over, now that he's 33-years-old.
"I think he trained hard this year and came into camp in really good condition," Tocchet said. "And when your captain comes in in good condition, it helps the coach out."
Rick Tocchet met with the media following his first win as Flyers head coach.#FLAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/iDlpNQMvMB
There is deeper meaning there. Captains do set a tone for the locker room as far as buy-in. When things soured between Couturier and Tortorella, it had a ripple effect in the Flyers locker room.
After Tortorella made him a healthy scratch with roughly 10 games to go in the season in 2023-24, it completely fractured the coach's relationship with the locker room, and the team collapsed and missed the playoffs on the final day of the season.
Things were allegedly patched up prior to last season, but at best it was with bubble gum and duct tape, and it didn't last long.
"Definitely, it was tough times," Couturier said.
So, with Couturier bought back in to Tocchet, the rest of the players are more likely to follow suit, and through three games, although there are still things to clean up, the FLyers have to be happy with where they are.
They had a brutal opening to their season schedule-wise, playing twice against Florida and sandwiching those games around a trip to Carolina, a heavy favorite to win the Metropolitan Division this season, and the Flyers came out of it 1-1-1 with a plus-1 goal differential.
It doesn't get any easier with Winnipeg and Minnesota on deck, both Western conference playoff teams a season ago, and a Seattle Kraken squad that is off to a fast start, but the Flyers are poised to show they are more than team that you play your backup goalie against and still feel like you have a good chance to win.
Couturier is leading the way both on the ice and off it to show why this isn't the same old Flyers.
"I definitely feel good and like I'm finding my confidence (again)," Couturier said. "It's just one game but I got to keep it going."
Don't miss Snow The Goalie, this Wednesday live at Chickie's and Pete's of Malvern, 10 Liberty Blvd., at 6PM. The show will broadcast from a different Chickie's and Pete's location every week throughout the Flyers season.
