4 most surprising Philadelphia Flyers players in 2023-24
The Philadelphia Flyers may not have enjoyed the most successful 2023-24 season, but they still played better than expectations, and a few players were responsible.
Regardless of what the last week of the season holds for the Philadelphia Flyers, we can all agree that nobody saw them taking things down to the final game of the regular season. In October, the playoffs were a far cry, and perhaps only the most faithful Flyers fans saw this team at least keeping things interesting in their quest for an unprecedented postseason berth.
In short, the Flyers surprised the NHL universe, even if 87 points through 81 contests still isn’t ideal, nor is a minus-25 goal differential. But in the NHL, just as in every sport out there, you can’t have a surprise team without several surprise players backing you up, and the Flyers, fortunately, had more than their fair share.
One of those players was Sean Couturier, following a pair of seasons in which he played in just 29 games in 2021-22 and missed all of 2022-23, leaving his upcoming 2023-24 season a mystery. But Couturier responded well, even if he wasn’t the same player he was before back surgery sidelined him.
Flyers fans enjoyed watching several players put up surprising seasons
In his first full season back, Couturier saw action in 73 contests through April 15th, with 37 points and 11 goals. He was still outstanding as a defensive forward, good in the faceoff dot, and incredible at helping to create chances, with a Corsi For at 5-on-5 hovering near 57 percent.
Couturier was still valuable on the man advantage, and when short-handed, he made his presence felt on the latter. The Flyers only allowed five goals while Couturier was on the ice, and his on-ice save percentage stood at 89.4 when an opponent found itself on the man advantage.
It was great to see Couturier at least resembling his former self despite such a long layoff, but he wasn’t the only surprise in 2023-24. A pair of blueliners and one goaltender also helped the 2023-24 Flyers make this season memorable.