A day before the home opener, the Flyers went through a test drive without one of their most important drivers.
Sean Couturier didn't take part in Monday's practice, which was held at the Wells Fargo Center and open to the fans. The Flyers unveiled their renovated locker room area, the organization's final touches to commencing a new era.
But the newness in the air was met with a cloud of concern from Couturier's absence.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
As the Flyers opened the season on the road last week, Couturier played in his first two regular-season games since December 2021. He had been out of game action for almost 22 months because of two back surgeries.
After splitting their two-game road trip at 1-1-0, the Flyers had a day off Sunday. Following Monday's practice, John Tortorella said Couturier was "banged up." The head coach was "not sure" about the severity of the injury.
When asked if the injury was related to Couturier's back, Tortorella said "no" before changing the topic.
"You know I'm not going to give you the information, right?" he said. "So you're wasting time asking those questions. Please, go ahead, ask me another one."
NHL
Update: Couturier alleviates concern, set to play in Flyers' home opener
Since the start of training camp on Sept. 21, Couturier had not missed any formal on-ice days of work. He played in four of the team's six exhibition games.
"Physically, the body, I feel really good," Couturier said Oct. 5 after the preseason finale. "I was surprised, with all the skating and how hard this camp is, I don't really have any soreness or any tightness. That's good. Obviously my game I think still has some work to be done. But I think it's going in the right direction, it got better and better every game. I've just got to keep building on it."
The 30-year-old center is a significant presence and voice for an organization that has publicly stated it's rebuilding.
"I'm OK with the rebuild process of what we're going through," Couturier said at the start of camp. "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."
Here's how the Flyers looked up front in practice Monday. They welcome the Canucks for their home opener Tuesday (6 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
Travis Konecny-Scott Laughton-Cam Atkinson
Joel Farabee-Morgan Frost-Bobby Brink
Owen Tippett-Noah Cates-Tyson Foerster
Nicolas Deslauriers-Ryan Poehling-Garnet Hathaway
On defense, Rasmus Ristolainen didn't practice Monday but went through a rehab skate, led by assistant strength and conditioning coach DeRick O'Connell and skills coach Angelo Ricci. Ristolainen had been practicing leading up to the team's season-opening two-game trip but remained on injured reserve. The club decided to err on the side of caution.
His status for the home opener is uncertain. Whenever the Flyers activate Ristolainen, they'll have to make a corresponding roster move.
The Flyers have four prospects on their roster in Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae. They each played one game on the two-game trip. Health of the roster will play a factor in how many games they see early on in the year. So, too, will performance. But the Flyers know a rotation is probably not ideal over the course of the season.
"I'm not sure where it all goes," Tortorella said. "With some of the youth of our team, we have to make decisions along the way here. 'Is it too much right now? Do we need to send him [down]? Or can he handle some of the mistakes here and live through it and stay here?' We'll be talking about that all year long with these guys."
On a Monday morning, a day after an Eagles game and with a Phillies playoff game at night, the Flyers appreciated their fans coming out to practice.
"I was actually really surprised by how many people showed up, I thought it was really cool," Joel Farabee said. "We love the fans' support, it's a Monday, a lot of people have got work, a lot of people have got other stuff going on and these people come out to support us.
"This organization's really built on effort, so getting back to playing Flyers hockey, I think we have the team to do that and I think the fans are going to get behind that and rock with us."
Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | Youtube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube