Sean Couturier suffers setback, Cam Atkinson not skating for Flyers

Sean Couturier hasn’t played a game for the Flyers since December 18th. After rest and recovery failed to work, he then had back surgery a few months later. It wasn’t expected to derail his career and it was said that it likely won’t not be a problem for him anymore.

And then he suffered a setback before training camp. He was back to being unable to sleep due to the pain. He began to skate again a few weeks ago as Chuck Fletcher said it was the best he had felt since before the surgery.

And there was yet another setback for the Flyers top-line center. John Tortorella spoke before Philadelphia’s game against the Panthers to address his status.

"“He stopped skating. He’s just not ready to skate right now. That’s a ways away.”"

Couturier is in the first year of a eight-year extension that he signed before the season last summer. And as of right now, he won’t be playing for a good chunk of that first season. Tortorella added that he’s not even thinking about Couturier in the lineup right now.

The same goes for Cam Atkinson as well. He did not appear in a single preseason game and has not suited up in the regular season as well. It is unknown exactly what his injury is, but it has something to do with his upper body. There had been optimism during training camp that Atkinson would be ready for the season opener.

And then something changed as Atkinson is not skating either. He had been on the ice prior, but his comfortability is not there right now.

"”Things changed and it went the other way. That’s one frustrated young man right there…His body’s just not allowing him to get to the spot where he can start conditioning again and start getting ready to play.”"

Atkinson is in his second season with the Flyers since an off-season trade from Columbus. Last season, he was second on the team in goals (23) and points (50). It was the most points he had put up since the 2018-19 season. It was also the seventh time in 11 seasons that he cracked the 20-goal mark.

So the Flyers will have to continue relying on the youth in their place. If this was a fully healthy team, Tortorella admitted that around four of five of the younger players would be in the AHL right now. It would be great for them because they would be getting much more minutes than they need right now.

One of those players would certainly be Tanner Laczynski. Tortorella spoke before that he wanted to see more out of the 25-year-old, mentioning he didn’t want to have to be looking for him on the ice. He did praise Laczynski’s play recently, especially after the bench was shortened against the Sharks last Sunday. But he is definitely one of the players who could be better off with more development.

Unfortunately, the Flyers are in a situation where they need a lot of their younger players to be up with the NHL team right now. Neither Couturier or Atkinson will he back any time soon. The Flyers have gotten Owen Tippett and Rasmus Ristolainen back from injured reserve. Though that came just after losing James van Riemsdyk to a broken finger.

For now, the Flyers will have to chug along and do the best they can with the roster that they have. There are 4-2-0 right now and have shown a different kind of fight than they have before.