Hall of Fame inductees reflect on changes
Flyers forward known for his defence putting up big numbers on team’s No. 1 unit
At first glance, it sounds like a line from that old Sesame Street song.
Take a look at the top scorers in the NHL and you’ll see mostly familiar names: Stamkos, Kucherov, Gaudreau, Kopitar, Tarasenko, Matthews and ... Sean Couturier? As Big Bird might sing, one of these things is not like the others.
Typecast as a shutdown player for the first six years of his career, Couturier has never scored more than 15 goals or reached the 40-point mark in a season. But after bugging his coach for more ice time and opportunity, the Philadelphia Flyers centre has emerged as one of the season’s early surprises with 10 goals and 19 points in 16 games.
Well, you and everyone else might be surprised. He sure isn’t.
“I’ve always thought I had the offensive tools to succeed and produce in this league,” Couturier said. “It was just the situation I was put in throughout my career. Now I’m getting the opportunity to showcase my ability with two of the best in the league.”
No question, playing on a line with Jakub Voracek (21 points) and Claude Giroux (20 points) has helped unlock Couturier’s offensive game. But it’s not like Couturier’s simply along for the ride. Giroux had only 14 goals last year, while Voracek had 20. Whatever they were doing without Couturier wasn’t working. Since joining him, the two players went from a combined minus-39 last season to a plus-14 this year.
“It’s always going to be in me to be reliable on both ends of the ice,” said Couturier, who had a plus-12 rating last year and is a plus-14 this season. “But I think the best defence is a good offence. If you can control the puck, it makes it hard for the other team to make plays.”
It’s why Couturier went to the coaching staff last year and asked for a more prominent role.
At the time, the Flyers were on their way to finishing out of the playoffs and Couturier was stranded on the fourth line. He was frustrated. He wanted to do more to try to help the team win games. But the coaching staff thought of him only as a defensive specialist.
“I was kind of the odd man out in the top six,” he said.
“I talked to the coach and asked him what he thought of my game and told him what I thought. I didn’t know what I could do to help the team, but we weren’t winning that much, so it was a great time to express my frustration.”
Couturier was at a crossroads. Though he is in his seventh NHL season, it’s easy to forget he is only 24. He’s still developing, still testing the limits of his potential and defining the player he will become. He just wanted a chance to show what he could do. And with the Flyers using their No. 2 overall pick to select centre Nolan Patrick, who has played only nine games this season because of a head injury, there was fear he might not get one.
Couturier’s demands were not unfounded. The eighth-overall pick of the Flyers led the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 96 points and won league MVP with Drummond.
But the offence dried up when he arrived in Philadelphia. In his first training camp, Couturier took one look at a crowded roster that included Giroux, Voracek, Daniel Briere, Jaromir Jagr, Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds and realized if he was going to make the team it would have to be in a defensive role.
“We had a great team my first year, a lot of talent up front and there wasn’t much room to crack the lineup,” he said. “It was the role that I was squeezed into. If I was going to play, that’s what I needed to play.”
Couturier, who twice finished in the top 10 in Selke Trophy voting, embraced his two-way role. But he became pigeonholed as a bottom-six forward. That changed near the end of last season, when the Flyers put him with linemates who could make plays. It worked. Couturier finished the season with only 34 points, but 17 came in the final 19 games.
“Now that I’m getting the opportunity to produce offensively and be one of the top two guys, it helps. It’s mentally a little easier going into a game knowing you’re getting four or five quality chances a night compared to when you’re playing 17, 18 minutes against a top line as more of a shutdown guy,” he said. “You’re going to get one or two quality chances and if you don’t score, you’re going to feel the pressure.”
It’s a different kind of pressure now. But Couturier, who has the Flyers holding down a wild-card spot a month into the season, is enjoying every minute.
He’s also showing his name belongs with the others at the top of the scoring list.