Sean Couturier has been a dominant player yet again for the Philadelphia Flyers, but unlike other years, there hasn’t been a lot of discussion about his Selke-Trophy worth.
Year in and year out, Sean Couturier has always been a candidate for the Selke Trophy. Even in his rookie season, the center got some votes for the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game, and finished 41st in voting. Between then and 2016-17, Couturier added two top-ten finishes for the trophy, but it was last season that really solidified his standing around the league.
Scoring 76 points in 82 games last season, Couturier finished second for the Selke Trophy and was constantly a favorite for the award from the start of the season.
This year, the 26-year-old has just 11 fewer points in 14 fewer games but isn’t getting any recognition in the Selke talk. In the midseason awards voting done by the PHWA, the organization that votes on the real trophy at the end of the year, didn’t include him in the top three. That begs the question why isn’t Couturier garnering Selke talk again?
The easiest answer is the lack of overall success from the Flyers. Despite their 10-game losing streak last season, before then and by February, the team was back in a playoff spot. This year, the team hasn’t been in a playoff spot since November. It’s now March and postseason play in Philadelphia is far from a likelihood.
But the Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov finished fourth last year and ranked second in the midseason voting this year, and was not on a team in a playoff position at either point.
The majority of Couturier’s stats have improved also beyond his points. His shooting percentage is up over three percent and his Corsi For is above last season’s rate, according to Natural Stat Trick. However, some of his defensive stats have decreased.
Couturier has nine fewer takeaways and is giving away the puck at a higher rate. For some of the old-school voters, his hits total is nearly half from last season. He’s also playing the majority of his time with less defensively skilled players. Jakub Voracek and Oskar Lindblom aren’t Claude Giroux.
Luck hasn’t been on his side, either. According to Hockey Reference, Couturier’s on-ice save percentage is 88.5 this year at even strength — the lowest in his career. For comparison’s sake, last year that percentage was at 90.9.
Also stemming from the lack of team success is Couturier’s play in the first half of this season. In 2017-18, the New Brunswick native exploded at the beginning of the year playing with Giroux and Voracek (later Travis Konecny). By game 41, Couturier had 40 points last season.
This year, Couturier had 31 points in his first 41 games. He’s turned it on even more ever since he was grouped with Voracek and Lindblom on Jan. 10. Since then, the 6-foot-3 center has 34 points in 26 games.
So maybe things will finish better for Couturier than the midseason award show. But at this point Couturier’s defensive acumen hasn’t been discussed much this season.
All stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and Hockey Reference.