Sean Couturier‘s situation with the Philadelphia Flyers is definitely something to monitor. 31 years of age and under contract through the 2029-30 season with a no-movement clause, he can essentially force himself to stay in Philadelphia for the rest of his career unless he is bought out. For a team like Philadelphia that is trying to be a contender in the future rather than the present, this timeline seems to contradict their position.
Couturier’s presence on the Flyers serves as a conflict of interest. A team in their position has no business with a player like him on the roster, yet he was made the captain a little bit over midway through the season. He might be forced to stay unless a unique situation arises, given he is older, overpaid ($7.75 million cap hit), and controls his own destiny.
Assuming he remains in Philadelphia, what can Couturier bring in the present and the future? If there was interest, what might a trade look like?
Couturier Is Still Valuable
Couturier’s struggles in his 2023-24 campaign get exaggerated a bit. They mainly started after he was named the captain of the Flyers on Feb. 14, putting up just five points and an expected goals percentage (xGF%) of 49 at even strength in his next (last) 24 games. What tends to get lost in that is he was serving a fourth-line role where offensive upside was virtually impossible. His defensive numbers were decent to pretty good, meaning he was simply average during that stretch.
At his lowest—which probably occurred because he hadn’t played hockey in nearly two calendar years yet was thrust into high-end first-line ice time for his first 50 or so games—he was still pretty solid. At his best, he actually earned this massive role.
When Couturier was at his best, he wasn’t exactly dominant points-wise, but there were things to like. First, he was sensational on the forecheck, which gave him and his linemates just a little bit of offensive upside. He played pretty low-event but also helped 22-year-old winger Tyson Foerster have Selke Trophy-caliber defensive numbers whilst playing on the first line in 363 even-strength minutes together.
Couturier isn’t a first-line center if you want to get offense, but he was a competent player in that spot in regard to shutting down opponents. In a defensive role against top players, his play was more than useful. When he was getting scoring on top of that, he was legitimately one of the Flyers’ best players. For a while, his contract wasn’t even an issue. Once the effects of a long season started to wear him down a bit, that’s when the scoring regression started.
Related: Philadelphia Flyers 2023-24 Player Grades: Sean Couturier
Scoring just 38 points in 74 games with an average ice time of 17:49 isn’t the greatest, but anyone who watched Couturier knows that he played better than the points suggest. Considering the fact that he could be even better due to his injuries now being behind him, there is a path to him being a useful player throughout the duration of his deal.
Projecting a Couturier Trade
With all that being said, Couturier is still making too much money to be what he is currently. He won’t be a top-line center for a contender who might be willing to acquire him, but he’s being paid like it. The only way around that is to have some salary retention on the Flyers’ part.
At the most, the Flyers can retain 50 percent of his contract, giving him a cap hit of a much more reasonable $3.875 million. At that number, he is making middle-six money. With his years of experience, status as a leader, and upside, there will definitely be teams that would bite on this. The term might make some buyers hesitate, but it’s not every day that you can acquire someone with Couturier’s resume.
If the Flyers make this kind of sacrifice, they might be able to expect a first-round pick in return. Being a decent first-line player for a chunk of the season will tend to return this, even if Couturier is a little bit on the older side. He can provide a two-way presence to any middle-six across the NHL.
Trading his whole salary gets a little bit more complicated. There aren’t many teams who would be willing to eat all of that up for six seasons, and there are even fewer who are trying to win. Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period mocked a Jonathan Huberdeau of the Calgary Flames for Couturier deal and one where the Flyers would get an incentive piece, such as a first-round pick, to go through with this. The Flames might never entertain this, but it seems logical enough to work.
It doesn’t have to be Huberdeau, who makes $10.5 million over the next seven seasons, but there would be an unideal contract that the Flyers would have to take back to trade their captain. Philadelphia might be able to toy with the upside of a player, but essentially they wouldn’t be doing much to help themselves in this scenario. Ultimately, this just paints the picture that trading away Couturier will be a challenge.
By the time Couturier is in his mid-30s, he likely won’t be much more than a good third-line center, if that. By that time, the Flyers should be contenders. Having a salary-cap nuisance like that could make it so they can’t maximize their window — Philadelphia will want to get on the problem fast.
At any rate, the Flyers should be happy that Couturier played so well in his return. It wasn’t the greatest season, but he was still one of their more valuable players. His 2024-25 campaign will be massive in determining his future in the NHL, regardless of what team he is playing for.