Sean Couturier out for remainder of season

Philadelphia Flyers forward Sean Couturier had successful back surgery earlier today and will be out for the remainder of the season.

Couturier hasn’t played since December 18, and was originally considered week-to-week before getting surgery to fully heal the injury.

It’s a big loss for the Flyers, who have won just two of their last sixteen games, but with a 15-23-8 record, their playoffs hopes are all but gone, finding themselves last in the Metropolitan division, and 17 points out of a playoff spot.

Considering the state of the team, it seems Couturier wanted to get the surgery over with when he wasn’t going to be missing any important hockey. GM Chuck Fletcher said that the expectation for Couturier is to need three months to recover and will be ready for next season.

It was a down year for Couturier even before the injury, as he had just six goals and 17 points in 29 games. It’s also the last season of his current contract before his eight-year, $7.75 million AAV contract kicks in, so it definitely would have been interesting to see if this season had effected that deal if he hadn’t signed yet.

Fletcher also mentioned that there was no update on defenseman Ryan Ellis, but indicated that a decision will need to be made soon to either get him playing or get him surgery and be ready for next season.