Sean Couturier moving closer to a return for the Flyers

As practice ended, a group of Flyers players burst into the locker room, talking and laughing as they pulled off their pads. One of the players in the middle of the pack headed toward the locker labeled “14.” Turning to toss his jersey into the laundry basket, Sean Couturier joined in the camaraderie after completing his own 45-minute skate.

Couturier, who underwent back surgery last season, has not skated with the Flyers since they decided on Sept. 19 that he should be reevaluated. He strapped on skates for the first time on Thursday, working out on an empty rink, and progressed to shooting on Sunday.

Couturier said he has felt better and better every day. With his improvement, the Flyers have gradually increased his workload to see how he responds. So far, so good, although Couturier is itching to do more.

“I really want to just get out there and rip some pucks and go 100 miles per hour,” he said. “But the trainers are really kind of holding me back and just trying to slowly progress me where I don’t have any setbacks, and so far, it’s been working.”

Couturier seems like he’s in “good spirits,” coach John Tortorella said. Since Couturier was already cleared once before having to be reevaluated, the team is going extra slow to make sure he’s ready to go full-tilt.

“The goal is really just to be 100% when I come back and not have to deal with anything all year,” Couturier said.

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Goalie Felix Sandström’s injury was a little “weird,” he said. He was playing in the Oct. 1 preseason game against the Bruins when he had to leave the game. There wasn’t any one thing that led to his lower-body injury, he said, but after a few sequences when he had to “reach too far,” he realized he wasn’t feeling well. Instead of trying to push through, he decided to “be smart” and rest.

Sandström, 25, had been having an impressive preseason up to that point. Having his tryout for the NHL roster cut short wasn’t optimal, but he tried not to think about it that way.

“It [stinks] to be having to leave a game, but you know, you’ve got to stay positive,” Sandström said. “Just focus on what you can control and that’s getting healthy again.”

Sandström missed two more preseason games and a week of practices. He tried to make the most out of the time he couldn’t spend with the team on the ice. “Been working with the goalies and the other guys to stay ready mentally and taking some shots and all that,” he said. “So I keep the eyes going.”

But nothing quite matches the experience of a full practice. Rehab skates are controlled, Sandström said, so he missed out on chances to practice making the right reads. Although he sat out the drills with more contact Sunday, he said it was a good day from which he can take a lot of positives.

Practicing with the second power-play unit, Morgan Frost received a pass but “the puck blew up on [his] stick.” The penalty kill converged, so Frost responded with some “reactionary stickhandling.” As he made guys miss left and right, he kept his head up and found Noah Cates in great scoring position on the other side.

“You’ve got to get open when Frosty has the puck,” Cates said.

Frost sent a sharp pass over, and Cates put it in the net, causing Frost to do a little happy dance. The entire team converged on him in celebration.

Up until that point, the power-play drills hadn’t been going so well, Frost said. So far, assistant coach Rocky Thompson has laid down some set rules for the power play and shown some video, but they’re still laying the groundwork to revamp a Flyers power play that struggled last season.

Frost’s play helped them end with a bang, and the entire team — including Tortorella — moved into the rest of practice with smiles on their faces.

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The Flyers will open the season Thursday at home against the New Jersey Devils. They’ll have two more practices and a morning skate before Tortorella makes his debut as their coach. ... The Flyers placed forwards Zack MacEwen and Cooper Marody on waivers for the purpose of assigning them to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Flyers now have 30 players left on the training camp roster, which needs to be trimmed to 23. ... Cam Atkinson has not returned to practice since Sept. 28, but Tortorella is still confident he will be ready for the season opener.