Fansided

Sean Couturier could reportedly miss Flyers season with herniated disc

By Ariel Melendez |
Nov 2, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier (14) against the Arizona Coyotes at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 2, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier (14) against the Arizona Coyotes at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Well, training camp hasn’t even begun yet and the Flyers have possibly been dealt a devastating blow to their roster. Sean Couturier could reportedly miss several months, or possibly the entire season. Anthony SanFilippo was first to report that the injury was a herniated disc in his back.

Elliotte Friedman went on to add that the Flyers are getting a second opinion. And while the injury is in the same area as his first one, it is not currently known if it is the same injury again. The Flyers would go on to later confirm that Couturier has sustained an upper body injury. He is listed as week to week and will be re-evaluated during training camp.

It was just a few days ago that Couturier said doctors gave him the all clear when he returned to Voorhees a few weeks ago. He mentioned having some setbacks here and there during his recovery, but he was all good to go now. Now one has to wonder if those setbacks had anything to do with what he is currently dealing with now.

Couturier reportedly felt the pain during skate a few days ago, as Friedman also mentioned. Couturier only appeared in 29 games last season as he tried to play through the back injury that ended in him having season ending surgery in February. That was after being shut down in December and trying to avoid having to go under the knife at all.

This will be the first year of an eight year extension that Couturier signed with the Flyers back in August of last season. It is almost guaranteed that he will be placed on LTIR to give the team a break from his 7.75M cap hit. And while that isn’t the way you wanted to bank space, it does give the Flyers a healthy cushion if they decide to make any other moves to try and fill their lineup.

They did sign Antoine Roussel and Artem Anisimov to PTO’s ahead of training camp. It could be fair to assume that this may have been the reason why they decided to bring in a few more forwards. The team is already down Joel Farabee and Bobby Brink as well. So this hole opens up a spot for a player like Noah Cates, who has been impressing the team since his short stint at the end of last season.

But for Couturier, this has to add to even more frustration on his part. He already missed four months last season and now he could potentially miss the entire season. The Flyers are reportedly hopeful that his back will heal in about six-to-eight weeks. If not, surgery will be required and that would certainly end his season before it even begins.

There were already plenty of concerns heading into this season and now things have already gotten worse and they haven’t even stepped on the ice for the start of training camp.

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