In a wise move, Danny Briere didn't offer up any predictions for when the Flyers will be a contending team again.
"I wish I could give you a timeline, but I'd be lying to you," the interim general manager said a little over a week ago. "I don't know if it's two years or five years or eight years, I really don't know at this point."
After a significant transitional season and missing the playoffs for a third straight year, the rebuilding Flyers are expected to make some subtractions this offseason. Head coach John Tortorella said he hopes the team is younger in 2023-24 and Briere said there will be changes.
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It's no secret the Flyers are far from the win-now, make-a-splash mode. But, for next season, a considerable addition without any subtraction could come in the form of Sean Couturier, who hasn't played since December 2021.
Last October, the 30-year-old center underwent a second back surgery in the span of eight and a half months. Despite the Flyers deciding against it, he felt he could have played a game toward the end of this season.
"I feel great," he said 11 days ago at his end-of-the-season press conference. "I feel like I've pretty much done a full offseason of training already and starting again. I'm already excited for camp."
Couturier will be entering Year 2 of an eight-year, $62 million contract, which has a no-movement clause. He understands the talk of a rebuild. He believes the players will dictate how long it takes.
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"Rebuild or not, for me anyways, in the situation I'm in with the two back surgeries, it's important to come back strong and show that I can be the player I was before the injury," Couturier said. "We're using the rebuild word, but I think it's on us players to just make sure we come ready and we can maybe speed up the process. That's on us to just develop and grow as a team, and we'll see how it goes next year."
The sustained health and impact of Couturier might be two of the most critical elements to the Flyers' rebuild. They are also big ifs. Couturier wasn't thrilled when the Flyers didn't give him the chance to knock off rust and prove something to himself at the end of this season. When the Flyers open the 2023-24 campaign, he'll have gone almost 22 months without playing an NHL game.
"Probably just going to have to skate a little more," Couturier said of his offseason plan. "I've trained a lot in the last year and a half and I feel strong again, I feel back 100 percent. So, it's just a matter of getting back to the level of a high NHL player. It's going to be on me to just get ready. Obviously I'm disappointed I couldn't get into a few games and see where I'm at, but only time will tell if it was a benefit or not. We’ll see next year, but I'm for sure going into this offseason motivated and with a lot to prove coming into next year."
In March, Tortorella said he was "playing around with a roster" for next season, forecasting the Flyers' potential look with the returns of Couturier and Cam Atkinson. The veteran winger Atkinson missed all of this season with a neck injury. Similar to Couturier, Atkinson is optimistic about next season and wants to be "part of the solution."
"I think both those guys are going to help this team a lot," Joel Farabee said at his end-of-the-season press conference. "I read a lot of stuff on Twitter and things like that, a lot of people are writing us off again already. I think a lot people forget Coots won a Selke before he got hurt and was one of the top players in the league. Cam's been a 40-goal scorer in this league. You add both those guys to the offense, I think it helps a lot and I think it takes pressure off a lot of other guys.
"I really don't think we're too far away. I feel like we have a lot of good pieces and good players to build around. It'll be interesting this offseason, obviously that's out of the players' control what happens with that, but I feel like we're going in the right direction. With good offseason training and keeping everyone healthy, I think we're in line for a big season."
Couturier referenced the Rangers' rebuild. In February 2018, the organization wrote a letter to the fans, stating its vision of building for the future. The Rangers then made the expanded playoff field in the 2020 bubbled postseason and are now a bona-fide Cup contender.
The modest Couturier isn't going to act like Superman. But with a change of his own fortune, the Flyers can perhaps better define their timeline.
"I'm not going to be saving this organization coming back," Couturier said with a smile. "I think it's important to do this rebuild the right way. What I'm saying is, if you look at, like, New York a couple years ago, they sent out that letter and you think it's a big rebuild — three, four years — and next thing you know they're in the playoffs the following year or two years later. And they've been good since.
"Things can change quick in the NHL. We've seen it the last two, three years, we were supposed to be one of the top-end teams and we went to the bottom of the standings. It's on us as a team, as players, as an organization to switch it around and get back to where this organization belongs."
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