The 2023-24 Philadelphia Flyers season is almost upon us, and with it comes fresh faces in new places for the team. Whether it be prospects, veterans, or free agent signings, it can be a little tough to keep track of.
Kind of like the 146 stops of Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’, which already rocked Lincoln Financial Field for three nights on end.
The pop superstar is in the middle of a two-month long reprieve of her world tour, and we all know she’s been spending some time watching her new man: All-Pro tight end and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Travis Kelce – brother of Philadelphia Eagles center and fellow future Hall of Famer Jason Kelce.
That’s close enough to Philly, right? Maybe in her downtime Swift can make her way out to watch her hometown Flyers.
In this post I’ll be covering 10 Flyers storylines for the upcoming season as they relate to Taylor Swift. And, speaking of hometowns and where it all started, let’s begin with where it all started for this Flyers team: the longest-tenured Flyer, Sean Couturier.
#10: Couturier makes his return to the Flyers
"“Honey, I rose up from the dead,” – Taylor Swift, “Look What You Made Me Do” (2017)"
Sean Couturier is about to play his first NHL game since Dec. 18, 2021, and that’s going to be music to Flyers’ fans ears. The 2019 Selke Trophy winner has played a full 82-game season just once since the 2014-15, so rising from the dead and hitting the ice again is nothing new.
The Philadelphia sports world moved on without Couturier last year, and the results weren’t great. The Flyers finished 29th in the league in goals for, and 22nd in the league in goals against. After a long layoff, we’ll have to see what the Flyers make Couturier do, but it’s highly likely that includes playing tight defense and scoring goals in bunches.
The 30-year-old will turn 31 in December, and his health history doesn’t necessarily lend itself to a long and prosperous NHL career from this point forward.