Philadelphia Flyers
Data Shows Couturier’s Contract One of NHL’s Very Worst

According to a data model developed by Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic, Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier has one of the 10 worst contracts in the entire NHL, coming in at No. 7.
Couturier, 31, signed an eight-year, $62 million contract ($7.75 million AAV) on Aug. 26, 2021, but dealt with a number of back issues early on in the 2021-22 season. Couturier subsequently was announced to have undergone back surgery on Feb. 11, 2022, after non-invasive treatment options failed to treat the Flyers captain’s issues.
But, as it turned out, that didn’t work either.
Couturier underwent a second surgery in October 2022, and though the veteran center was able to push for a return to the ice at the end of the season, the Flyers swiftly shut the door on the possibility.
One season back on the ice later, here we are.
Writes Luszczyszyn, “For now, Couturier is a fine shutdown second-line center, but that’s not enough for how much he’s being paid. It’s a real shame for Couturier, who looked like he would have no trouble living up to this deal when he signed it. At the time it looked right on the money. Injuries severely derailed his trajectory to this current point, though, and the hope is that he can still bounce back after getting back up to speed last season. Some positive shooting percentage regression could help a lot here.”
Although the 31-year-old indeed returned to the ice full-time in the 2023-24 season and played in 74 of 82 games, injuries once again came back to bite Couturier. That is undoubtedly playing a part in where Couturier falls amongst his peers, especially those on the list with him.
We recently learned that the 6-foot-4 forward successfully underwent an offseason procedure to repair a sports hernia, something that Couturier was apparently afflicted by and played through during the season. Flyers teammate Jamie Drysdale recently resumed skating after having the same operation, and it’s no surprise that both players experienced sharp declines in their skating and ability to produce offense.
Couturier, who has six seasons left on his contract, is unlikely to return to being the 30-goal, 70-point force that he became just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, though a lousy, injury-laden second half probably prevented him from having a 50-point comeback campaign last season.
For example, Couturier only managed to pick up three assists over his final 19 games, and even worse is that he scored only two goals after the turn of the new year. In total, that’s just two goals, 13 assists, and 15 points over Couturier’s final 40 games of the 2023-24 season.
We know that the Flyers‘ captain is still elite defensively, but now the onus is on him to show that the offense and durability are still there, too.
Top 6 , 2 way centers don’t grow on trees for this league . Impossible to find .
as long as the plan is to go for cup in 2027 and 2028, couturier works as 2nd line center to win cup
sanheim , Seeler , Ristolainen , couturier and Laughton all connected for a cup in 2027 and 2028. All will get flushed post cup in 2029 to pay the youngsters foerster ,drysdale and michkov their big money .
it looks contract bad but I believe the plan is solid and couturier is important in front of net presence . We just need a #1 center in front of him now and we got it .
centers and big defensive older trees on defense don’t come along too often
couturier had hernia this year . I like our plan and love couturier
Keep on beating that dead horse, I’m sure it’ll change things
🤡
Anybody else getting a little tired of the “I played like crap because I was really hurt, but didn’t tell anybody!”? If your “injury” kept you from playing to a higher standard, then why are you playing with it? Get it fixed, if possible, rehab & come back when you can be productive again. Playing through injuries that diminish your play & adversely affect the game is unfair to your teammates & the fans.
Coots needs to center Michkov … .miraculously his metrics will climb. Don’t ask me why or how, but I am inclined to believe that with the Russian on his wing.
‘Data Shows Couturier’s Contract One of NHL’s Very Worst‘ —- Of course it is. it was drawn-up by Chuck ‘What the F–k’ Fletcher, one of the worst GM’s in NHL history.
One of the big reasons this rebuild will be failure . I hate being pessimistic about it but , adding Konecny salary to this one , no meat left in the bone. We are will continue to be cross between Buffalo and Columbus this city deserves so much better. It might be or might not be their fault , but the not wanting to play for team, Johansen , Gauthier , and Kosolov has to be very alarming
These are separate issues on why not playing for team, if it was all because tgese players just don’t like the Organization than it woukd be alarming. These players you listed don’t alarm me. Also everyone on here that keeps bashing management for moves that haven’t even been done yet, give it up!! Stop wasting our time and your own. If and when these moves happen ,then talk your crap. Danny has already mentioned numerous times about not signing long term contracts to any old players and waiting till dead money comes off. I also can’t stand people on here thinking they know so much more about these draft picks than tge scouts that watch them for a few years in some cases. It’s absolutely hilarious reading some of tgese comments on draft picks and prospects. Nearly all those that make these comments only can write whatever they read over the last few months leading to draft. Probably have never even watched one prospect in a game that they seem to know so much about. Give it up!!
Couturier is NOT “elite defensively” and if you look at his overall production you could make an easy guess that this contract was not going to age well. How many 30 goal 70 point seasons does Couturier have again? Exactly. Flyers jumped the gun and overpaid a 2C (at best) until 2030. In what will probably be one of IF NOT THE worst contract in the league in a few years max. Sanheim’s doesn’t look much better.
Couturier won a Selke and was always considered to be one of the top defensive forwards prior to his back injury. Patrice Bergeron is widely considered to be a 1C, future hall of fame center and he only had one 70+ point season in his career, at the age of 33. I’m not going to pretend that Couturier struggled last season, but I wasn’t surprised either that he hit a wall. He was living up to his contract value during the first half of the season, but eventually conditioning caught up to a player who had missed the last two years because of a back injury. I’m not guaranteeing that Couturier will be back to the 1C level of play he was before the injuries, but I’d give it a much greater than 50% chance that he is back to that 1C level of play this season.
Sanheim… How can you complain about that contract? He has the 43rd highest cap hit among defenseman in the NHL this season… and that’s locked in for five more seasons. I don’t think its outrageous to say that Sanheim is around the top 50 defensemen in the NHL and he’s only in the beginning of his prime right now. He’s not going to win a Norris trophy, but he’s definitely a guy who can play on the top pairing or be an extremely good second pairing guy. It’s going to be a great contract in three seasons if he stays healthy.
Just like the mistake they are about to make overpaying Konecny off one 70 point season.
Lets wait to see that happen before you waste anymore time on talking about something that hasn’t happened.