Flyers forwards Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny continue to progress through their rehabs

Flyers center Sean Couturier may be mostly out of sight from the public eye as he works his way back from back revision surgery, but he’s made his presence felt among his teammates all season long.

Couturier, 30, isn’t practicing with the Flyers right now, participating in rehab skates either solo or with other injured players like winger Travis Konecny (upper body). But for forward Scott Laughton, just getting to be around Couturier in the weight room and at the practice facility has been an encouragement for everyone on the team.

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“I really don’t think people realize how hard he’s worked to get to the point that he’s at and how much he’s put in behind the scenes,” Laughton said. “So hopefully we’ll see him out here with the boys pretty soon and get practicing.”

Both Couturier and Konecny had a rehab skate on Monday before practice with skills coach Angelo Ricci. In February, former Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said that Couturier was ramping up his rehab, but he didn’t know if there was “enough runway” for him to return to play this season. John Tortorella provided no update on Couturier and his timeline on Monday, claiming that he hadn’t even thought about him potentially returning to the lineup.

The same goes for the 26-year-old Konecny. Tortorella only confirmed that Konecny and Couturier are skating, continuing along in their respective rehabs. Even though Konecny may be away from on-ice team activities after sustaining his injury on Feb. 20 against the Calgary Flames, he’s still keeping tabs on the group, according to defenseman Travis Sanheim.

“Obviously, I talk to him daily, because he wants to know, updates on ‘What’s going on? And how’s the room? And how are the guys?’” Sanheim said. “And [he] just wants to be a part of it. So obviously he’s eager to get back. He was a big piece. Having a great year. I’m not sure his timeline or anything like that, but I know that he’s working hard and trying to get back as quickly as he can.”

Defenseman Tony DeAngelo hasn’t played a regular-season game with Couturier. However, DeAngelo said he understands his importance as a leader and as a player just from playing against him for so long. While DeAngelo stayed back in Voorhees to serve his two-game suspension for spearing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Corey Perry, he skated with Couturier and was impressed with his progress.

“Sean looked really, really good a couple days ago when we skated together,” DeAngelo said. “But it’s encouraging for everybody to see around the locker room, organization, fans, everybody. He’s our most important guy. It’s good to see him getting back to healthy.”

Couturier has been out of the lineup since Dec. 18, 2021. He was placed on injured reserve two days later and underwent his first back surgery on Feb. 11, 2022. Although Couturier was cleared to participate in training camp at the beginning of September, he re-injured his back halfway through the month, and eventually underwent a second surgery on Oct. 27.

With the rest of the team on the road for games against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins, DeAngelo had plenty of time to hang out with the group of injured players including Couturier, Konecny, and Cam Atkinson (neck). While he appreciated the company, DeAngelo admitted that his stint away from the team was boring. And expensive.

DeAngelo forfeited exactly $54,054.06 of his salary for spearing Perry. That money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. The suspension did not come as a shock to DeAngelo, who returned to practice on Monday.

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“I knew I was getting something after you watch the replay,” DeAngelo said. “The replay looks like you deserve two, so it is what it is. Nothing I can do now. I already paid.”

DeAngelo emphasized that the spear was his first major penalty (not including fights). However, he was suspended for three games previously in 2017 for violating Rule 40.4 (physical abuse of officials) as a member of the Arizona Coyotes. In that incident, he tried to push an official’s hands away as he was being steered away from a scrum. He was assessed a game misconduct for that transgression.

“I try to play the game pretty clean,” DeAngelo said. “Nasty, but clean, if that makes any sense to you guys. But it won’t happen again.”

Winger Brendan Lemieux (undisclosed injury) also returned to practice on Monday. He missed the Flyers’ last two games. Winger Wade Allison (undisclosed injury), however, is still out and is considered day-to-day. He also missed the last two games. In turn, Tortorella said that the team may need to call up a player from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in advance of their Tuesday night game against the Vegas Golden Knights (7 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia).