Sean Couturier

Ron Hextall’s goal from the day he took over as GM has been to build the Flyers into a Stanley Cup contender. With the roster where it is now, how close are the Flyers to being a true contender?

Six years ago, then Flyers GM Paul Holmgren made a trade that is widely regarded as the worst in franchise history when he sent James van Riemsdyk to Toronto for Luke Schenn. The Flyers president is among the many in Flyers management excited to have JVR back in Orange and Black.

With the Flyers offseason plan essentially complete — with the exception of training camp happenings — have the Flyers done enough to show improvement in key areas from a season ago?

Over the years, when Sean Couturier has not been in the lineup, there is a significant drop in talent and the Flyers lose depth as a result, greatly altering the level of play on the ice. So does that make Couturier the Flyers most valuable player?

According to a report from the Montreal Journal, Flyers forward Sean Couturier re-injured his MCL in an offseason game while making a routine movement.

Shayne Gostisbehere was ranked as one of NHL Network’s Top 20 Defensemen right now, while Ivan Provorov was considered one of five defensemen on the bubble, sparking a bit of a debate showing how much Flyers fans value the 2015 first-round pick.

Whatever the top line and second line look like on Opening Night, the Flyers not only have a solid top six, they have flexibility in how they utilize it.

The smart decision in the 2018-19 season is to keep Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier together with Giroux still manning the wing, where he had so much success in the 2017-18 season.

After the career year Couturier had in 2017-18 season, putting up new career highs in points, solidifying himself as the first-line center, and continuing to be a shutdown force, not to mention being a finalist for the Selke Trophy, could we see the same from him in the 2018-19 season and for the rest of his career?