VOORHEES, N.J. — Sean Couturier had never experienced John Tortorella's skate-until-you-basically-drop Day 1 of training camp.
Thursday was his first time living it and you wouldn't have known the 30-year-old center was a rookie to the gauntlet. He appeared to handle it pretty well, which actually isn't all that surprising. In April, with the Flyers' offseason just beginning, Couturier felt like he had already gone through a summer of training and was about to start again.
Last year at this time, Couturier wasn't in camp. About a month later, he ended up needing a second back surgery in the span of eight and a half months.
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This September looks like a different story. Couturier was on the ice at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday and pushing through Tortorella's notorious skating test alongside his teammates to open 2023 camp.
"Worked hard this summer to go through camp and play an 82-game season," Couturier said. "This is probably the first test of the season and felt good."
Couturier was itching to play some games toward the end of last season but the Flyers decided against it, shifting the focus to 2023-24. Come the Oct. 12 opener, Couturier will have gone almost 22 months without playing a regular-season game.
Because of that layoff, Couturier told the Flyers' front office and coaching staff that he'd like to play in as many preseason games as possible. The Flyers have six of them, starting Monday against the Devils in Newark, New Jersey.
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"I'm excited for him," Tortorella said. "He has been miserable not playing. I'm really happy that he has put in all the work that he has done and now it's coming together for him, getting ready for an NHL season."
Couturier added some weight this summer to prepare for the physical grind of a long season. His body might require more focus and time than what it did before the surgeries. That's OK with Couturier, who has always been a worker.
"The medical staff and trainers downstairs, they showed me a nice little program kind of on a daily basis to have my routine to get me going and feel good," he said. "It's what I've been doing pretty much all summer and it's working."
While Couturier is fully cleared, he knows, for himself, taking on the physicality and pace of a game again will be significant boxes to check off in the exhibition contests.
"I'm not going to lie, personally, mentally that's going to be the big thing to get over with, is just play that first game, get hit, get crushed on the boards and see how it feels," Couturier said. "That's what I kind of want. But everyone's confident that everything's going to be OK — doctors, trainers. So I'm not too worried, but obviously just to feel it and actually go through it, that'll probably feel better and clear my mind, that's for sure."
Couturier is not the only established forward returning from an arduous injury recovery. Cam Atkinson missed all of last season with a neck injury that required surgery in December. He said he's healthy and ready to go.
As an undersized winger (5-foot-8) and a sixth-round draft pick in 2008, Atkinson has gone on to accomplish a lot. He has played in 700 career games and owns a 41-goal season from 2018-19 with the Blue Jackets. The 34-year-old is motivated to be an everyday guy again and produce.
"My whole life I've had to prove people wrong," Atkinson said. "I've used that to fuel my fire to shove it in your face. I've got to prove myself even more so this year and that's why I think I prepared better than I ever have this offseason. ... It feels good to feel normal, feel myself on the ice, and I think that's what's most exciting for me."
The Flyers have missed the playoffs in three straight years and are now publicly embracing a rebuild under president of hockey operations Keith Jones and general manager Danny Briere. But the front office leadership, along with Tortorella, has stressed the importance of competing, not tanking. The Flyers should be more competitive if Couturier and Atkinson are looking like themselves again.
"I'm OK with the rebuild process of what we're going through," Couturier said. "Obviously I'm 30 and haven't really won anything, so I'm anxious to start winning, making long playoff runs and winning the Cup. I guess it's part of the process.
"But I think, as players, coaches, we can determine how fast this rebuild can be. A lot of people think a rebuild is three, four, five years. It can take a year or two and we're right back there. I think that's going to be the goal. There are not too many expectations and I think we can kind of use that as motivation and maybe surprise a lot of people."
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