Philadelphia Flyers - Fantasy News

NHL Fantasy Advice: Sean Couturier

by Jeff Gordon

1/18/18

NHL

Philadelphia Flyers

Sean Couturier

Sean Couturier became one of the NHL's better defensive centers during his previous six seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers.

He took lots of defensive zone faceoffs, matched up against top opposing centers and played behind scorers Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn in the Flyers lineup.

But then Philadelphia general manager Ron Hextall traded Schenn for Jori Lehtera and two first-round draft picks, in part to create playing opportunity for first-round draft pick Nolan Patrick somewhere in the middle.

Also, head coach Dave Hakstol decided he liked Giroux better on the wing. Couturier was suddenly bumped up to No. 1 center, and a star was born.

He scored nine goals and earned six assists with a plus-10 rating in 12 October games and has kept on rolling.

He finally realized the offensive potential he demonstrated before the Flyers drafted him eighth overall in the 2011 NHL Draft. Couturier scored 192 points in 126 games during his last two regular seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but he settled for a checking role when he advanced to this level.

All he seemingly needed was a chance to play on the top line at even strength and on the first unit with the man advantage. Couturier, 25, was a breakout waiting to happen for the Flyers—just as Schenn was for the Blues in St. Louis, where he assumed a primary offensive role.

Sometimes all a player needs is the opportunity to take on more responsibility.

Couturier recently scored seven goals during a four-game span, with three of them coming on the power play. He scored nine goals and added five assists during a nine-game surge after producing just five points (two goals, three assists) in his previous 11 contests.

“I just want to keep it going,” Couturier told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “There’s still another half of the year to play. I had a good first half but need a better second half to make a push and make the playoffs. Just need to keep going and rolling.”

He is converting 18.9 percent of his shots this season, up from 11.7 percent a year ago. He has six power-play goals in 2017-18 after scoring just three during his first six NHL seasons combined.

Couturier is playing more than 21 minutes per game, which is two minutes more than his previous career high. His hit rate is way up and he has been on par with his career norms for takeaways and blocked shots, despite playing his more offensive role.

After starting the season by averaging 3.0 Projected Fantasy Points, Couturier saw his PFP climb as high as 9.5 on his Dober Player Card. Yet he topped his PFP seven times during a recent eight-game stretch.

With Hakstol likely to keep his top-line combination together for the rest of this season, Couturier will remain a good bet to start. While his shooting percentage may be unsustainably high, he will continue getting prime scoring chances while the playmaking Giroux is his linemate.