The Philadelphia Flyers led by new GM Danny Briere exited the 2023 offseason keeping up their recurring bit of being painfully under-equipped at the center position. Their lack of main roster center depth has been an ongoing problem for years now, and as they wait patiently for Cutter Gauthier to arrive to hopefully alleviate some of those troubles, it’s going to be another long, yet very interesting for the main roster centers.
Sean Couturier
One of the biggest stories for the Flyers entering the 2023-24 campaign is the status of 30-year-old center Sean Couturier, who as of now is slated to return to the lineup after missing the last 22 months with two separate back injuries and subsequent surgeries. Will he be close to the Selke-winning player he was nearly two years ago, or will he look like an elderly man on skates?
Even if he’s good to go and in relative good health, the Flyers should probably use him with ease moving forward. Limiting his minutes for the sake of career longevity should be the name of the game with Couturier. He’s got seven more years on his contract, after all. Playing him in a top line center role plus powerplay and top penalty kill time is just too great a workload for the player, especially when the team is going to losing a majority of those games regardless.
Stapling him to the 3C role with heavy focus on the PK seems like the best course of action next season. It emphasizes his strengths as a shutdown defensive center and cuts his overall minutes by a substantial margin on a nightly basis.
The problem with that theory is, will Couturier actually stay buried down the lineup once the pressure is on? It’s in most coach’s nature to fallback to the veterans in key situations, and if the Flyers are up or down by a goal late in a game or maybe Cates or Frost isn’t feeling it that night, how long is it before Tortorella throws Couturier into the deep end, and how long before he hmself can’t handle that kind of workload?
Noah Cates
Cates, 24, dazzled during his rookie season earning both Calder and Selke votes for his 38-point campaign, sacrificing quite a bit of offense in exchange for becoming Tortorella’s go-to forward in high pressure situations. Reserving Couturier for eating the heavy penalty kill and critical 5-vs-5 minutes, means it opens the door for the 24-year-old to take a bit more freedom on the offensive side of the game.
In theory, he’ll be the 2C with far more versatility toward the offensive side of the two-way game he excels at. Who knows, if he somehow manages to double his point totals from last season and keep the defensive side of his game up to snuff, he could very well find his name in the real contention for the Selke in the very near future. Look out for a sophomore slump, a not uncommon occurrence when the bar is set high out of the gate, but given he’s slightly older than your typical prospect, he may handle his second season better than most players.
Ultimately, Couturier’s deployment upon his return will will heavily impact the minutes Cates gets given their roles will probably be very similar. As noted above, if the Flyers take it easy with Couturier, Cates will see a bigger piece of the pie, if they fall back into de facto Couturier as 1C status, well Cates will be the one who suffers with limited 3C minutes, limiting what could otherwise be a very good season.
Morgan Frost
Morgan Frost is in a fascinating predicament. He finally stuck on the main roster in 2022-23, but not without many head-butting moments with John Tortorella. If all else was equal and Torts had his druthers, Frost probably wouldn’t be here for a long stint, but the rest of the center group leans so heavily to the defensive side, that Frost is the only thing close to the de facto go-to offense producer of the group.
Frost turned 24 in May and scored 19 goals and 46 points in 81 games last season. He could very well serve as the team’s 1C, but a lot of that comes down to wether or not he can maintain Tortorella’s trust for long portions of the season. If he’s producing at a mediocre 40-50-point pace and lackluster defensively, he could easily fall down the depth chart as the responsible defensive centers get their ice time boosted.
There won’t be a better chance for Frost to prove himself offensively. The overall talent of the team is still weak, but considering he’s their top offense-first center who should get plenty of ice time with the best wingers the team can muster, it really is now or never for Frost to finally step up and claim a top six role on the team.
Ryan Poehling
Speaking of defensive forwards, the Flyers also signed 24-year-old Ryan Poehling to a one-year contract. It’s no secret Torts didn’t like Tanner Laczynski, so Poehling’s presence is basically to box the former out of the lineup. He’s a big improvement on the defensive side of the puck and will be a welcomed addition to the penalty kill, but with just 36 points in 138 career games, don’t expect much else out of him.
Everyone Else
Other than the main roster four and whatever limbo Tanner Laczynski is stuck in these days, the only other notable natural center in the system is 21-year-old Elliot Desnoyers. He set the Phantoms’ rookie goalscoring record with 23 and ultimately finished with 44 points in 65 games. There’s a chance he’s main roster ready, but like some of his other fellow Phantoms, there’s not exactly room for him to crack the Flyers’ lineup yet.
Scott Laughton can also technically play center, but he’s always found more success on the wings. Especially as he continues to age (he’ll turn 30 shortly after the conclusion of the 2023-24 season) it may be best to give him the easier role (both positionally and roster construction wise) at left wing than making him play center every night in the event of an injury.
Conclusion
The center depth and quality they get from them is pretty heavily contingent on the state of Couturier physically when he returns. If he’s 75-80% of the player he was during his Selke-caliber prime from 2017-2020, they should at least be able to utilize him to a helpful degree. If he’s even slower and a broken down mess that doesn’t have much tread on the tires, he becomes a very expensive anchor the Flyers have to carry around and significantly cuts the scenarios he can be used in.
It’s a very Tortorella-ific lineup with a heavy reliance on defense-first centers. It’ll be his first chance to work with Couturier, he’ll be overjoyed to utilize anyone else but Laczynski on the fourth line, and Cates was clearly his most trusted player last season. It really paints Morgan Frost as the odd man out, but if his offense can come consistently without sacrificing his two-way responsibilities, Tortorella won’t have a choice but to play him. If he can’t? Well he will more than likely fall down the lineup, especially in close games.
Best case scenario, it’s probably the best group they’ve had down the middle in quite some time. A strong two-way presence throughout the lineup that can produce at least a bit of offense to compliment the strength on the wings.
Worst case scenario, Couturier is a dilapidated mess, Cates falls into a sophomore slump, Frost continues to struggle and Tortorella utilizes Poehling as a 1C.
Given the luck of the Flyers over the last few years, which one is the most likely option? Regardless, they’ll have a much clearer picture of what this group will do by season’s end.
This should hopefully be the last year of their struggles down the middle. With Gauthier (theoretically) scheduled to make the pro jump next season and an upcoming offseason where the salary cap is slated to finally jump from it’s post-pandemic flat state, the organization will have a much easier time making a move if they so choose to find an outside upgrade. Then it becomes just as case of whether or not the team is finally self-aware enough to help finally themselves at center.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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