‘It’s been a long, long ride’: Flyers center Sean Couturier officially will miss the remainder of the season

Sean Couturier is tired of watching games from the press box. He’s tired of seeing his Flyers teammates play through minor injuries while he remains sidelined and feeling completely healthy after rehabbing from a pair of back surgeries over the last year and a half.

Couturier is tired, but he’s also been patient. From his latest surgery in October, the center has gradually ramped up his rehab, to the point where he’s become a full-contact participant in practices and morning skates. Now, he’s going to have to exercise a little bit more of that patience.

Coach John Tortorella announced on Saturday that the 30-year-old Couturier will not return to game action this season, saying it was a group decision made by himself, the medical staff, and interim general manager Danny Brière. Couturier did not experience a setback and has been cleared by the doctors, according to Tortorella, but the team wanted to ensure that Couturier has plenty of time to get used to the speed of the game again and to avoid another injury.

Couturier will have a full training camp and preseason to recover instead of being thrown into the remainder of this year’s regular season. Couturier understands that the team’s higher-ups are acting in his best interests, but it doesn’t make their decision any less disappointing.

“I get it,” Couturier said “I would’ve just loved to get the opportunity to prove myself. It’s been a long, long ride. A lot of ups and downs, and I’m feeling really good and finally over the hump. I just wished I could have got the opportunity to just prove myself and help the team get back on track.”

Couturier has dealt with plenty of adversity off the ice over the last 1½ years. He hasn’t played since Dec. 18, 2021. Couturier went on injured reserve 12 days later, underwent his first back surgery on Feb. 11, 2022, and was declared out for the rest of the season.

Before the start of 2022 training camp, Couturier said he was cleared to participate, but on Sept. 19, the team announced that he was experiencing pain and would be sidelined. On Oct. 27, Couturier underwent back revision surgery and has been working his way back to full health ever since. In mid-March, Couturier said it’s always been his goal to return to play this season, but Tortorella was hesitant to say that Couturier could achieve that aspiration. Ultimately, the team arrived at the decision to wait until training camp.

» READ MORE: Flyers roundtable: What to make of all the recent changes and are there more coming?

“Coots is aggravated and I love it,” Tortorella said, “and I love it because I think that’s why he’s the player he is, and so he’s going to have to eat it for a little bit. I think it helps him get even more ready for a pretty strenuous camp coming up here when he starts again with us.”

But while Couturier has experienced more than his share of adversity off the ice, he said that he misses the on-ice adversity that comes with tough times for the team. The rebuilding Flyers, though, have had fewer rough patches recently, going 5-0-2 in their last seven games.

But when it gets tough, Couturier wants to be in the thick of it, helping a young team understand what it takes to win next season.

“That’s where you build character, you grow as a team,” he added. “Sometimes adversity is good. It’s been a while. I haven’t had ... I mean, 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 just important to all grow as a team together, and I just want to be a part of it.”

With regular-season games out of the picture for now, Couturier has set his sights elsewhere — training camp. He’s already started his summer training, and he’s preparing mentally for the doubts that may creep in about his on-ice abilities heading into camp in September.

However, after months of hard work, Couturier is confident he can get back to being the player he was before his back surgeries.

“I’m definitely going to be out there to prove something,” Couturier said. “It’s going to be close to two years that I haven’t played in the NHL. It’s going to be a tough summer. It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m up to it.”