Flyers’ Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier healthy again, prepared for a tough John Tortorella camp

Taking the podium for the first time ahead of the 2022-23 season, Kevin Hayes and Sean Couturier visibly pulsed with energy and excitement rarely seen in the last year as they shared their clean bills of health on Monday.

Hayes, who suffered two abdominal injuries and an infection in his groin area, said he hasn’t had any health issues since January when he was treated for that infection. His summer training has gone well, and his decision to play out the final Flyers games of last season gave him confidence heading into the offseason.

» READ MORE: ‘I’ve missed enough’: Wade Allison is ready to put his injuries behind him, do the dirty work for Flyers

“It was huge for me,” Hayes said. “There were times last year where I was leaving games where I was questioning whether I’d ever feel good ever again. It was nice to know that I could play hockey again and enjoy myself and not worry about my groin every shift I’m on the ice.”

Hayes, the team’s second-line center, played just 48 games of the 82-game season. First-line center Couturier managed only 29 games.

Couturier first sat out in December because of a positive COVID-19 test and persistent back problems. He never returned. The recovery took much longer than Couturier anticipated, with many ups and downs, even lingering into his offseason training. But when he returned to the Flyers’ facility two weeks ago, the doctors finally gave him the go-ahead in his recovery from surgery.

Based on his conversations with the doctors, Couturier believes the injury is behind him, and he will not have to worry about it resurfacing.

“Hopefully, we can move on from this and never look back at something like that,” Couturier said. “At the same time, it’s a physical sport. Pretty tough out there. And injuries happen. It’s part of the business. But looking forward to being healthy again.”

Many of the Flyers are eyeing the upcoming training camp with excitement but a good dose of nervousness, Hayes said.

With new head coach John Tortorella at the helm, they know this is going to be the hardest training camp of all their lives —”other than Cam [Atkinson’s],” Hayes said. Atkinson previously played for the demanding Tortorella in Columbus.

» READ MORE: Flyers rookie camp to open Thursday with Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates headlining the roster

When Tortorella was hired, Hayes flew to Philadelphia to meet with him. There, Tortorella bluntly told Hayes he’d be really hard on him. Hayes welcomes the challenge. While Couturier’s first impression of his new coach was of the nice-guy, offseason Tortorella, he knows Tortorella will ramp up the intensity once the season starts.

“But I think he means well and really cares about the players, and that’s something I really appreciate,” Couturier said.

Although Tortorella didn’t have the chance to meet with everyone, he sent out an email to the entire team outlining his expectations for training camp, which begins Sept. 21 in Voorhees. In anticipation of the challenge and driven by a desire to bounce back from last season’s “embarrassing” results, as Hayes called them, the entire team returned to Philadelphia early.

“Everyone’s pushing themselves, whether it’s in the gym or on the ice,” Couturier said. “The scrimmages are intense. We’re trying to push ourselves. We’re trying to get a little jump start, and everyone’s here early, buying into this process.”

When longtime captain Claude Giroux was traded to the Florida Panthers, the Flyers refrained from filling the captain position. Now, with Giroux starting his first full season in a different sweater, the Flyers have to choose a new player worthy of wearing the “C” for the first time since 2013.

The candidates include several players who served as alternate captains last year, including Hayes and Couturier, two names that consistently come up in the future captain conversation. But they both said every player has the potential to be a leader.

“We don’t have a captain on the team yet, but I think guys lead in their own ways,” Hayes said. “I think no matter where you slate in on a team in the NHL, you can lead by example vocally or emotionally on or off the ice.”

Both veterans emphasized that it doesn’t matter who ends up inheriting the captaincy and that everyone in the locker room has to find that leader inside. The locker room was clearly lacking a strong, winning culture, and a bounce-back season will be about more than improving their habits, on-ice skills, and conditioning.

» READ MORE: Who will be the next Flyers captain? Here are the top contenders.

“I think everyone just needs to take some responsibility and some leadership in this locker room, and I think everyone has somewhat of a potential to become good leaders,” Couturier said.

“I hope everyone’s excited to do that, because if they’re not, it could be a tough year,” Hayes added.