Entering the 2014-15 season, one of the biggest keys to success for the Philadelphia Flyers was the continued development of Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn into impact players on a much more consistent basis at the NHL level. It has not happened this season, for a variety of reasons that will be discussed in a series of individual player blogs planned for after the season.
Flyers head coach Craig Berube has consistently rejected the premise that Couturier's role of playing against the
toughest quality of competition (from a Corsi standpoint) among Flyers centers and starting a very heavy percentage of his five-on-five shifts outside the offensive zone (39.7% offensive zone starts) limits his offensive opportunities.
Numerous times this season, Berube has said that there are opportunities to turn defense into counterattacking offense, get the puck out of the defensive zone and establish a forecheck and otherwise find ways to post points as well as playing strong defense. That goes not only for Couturier but for linemate Matt Read and others in that role.
The prototype for the player Berube and the Flyers organization would like to see Couturier become is Boston Bruins star Patrice Bergeron. Now the perennial favorite to win the Selke Trophy, Bergeron always goes head-to-head with other teams' top lines, starts the majority of his event-strength shifts outside the offensive zone (46 percent offensive starts in 2013-14 and 2014-15, after 42.4 percent in the lockout shortened 2012-13 season and 47.6 percent in 2011-12). Nevertheless, Bergeron is also an offensive weapon for Boston.
Expecting Couturier to be the Flyers' version of Bergeron is setting the bar mighty high; he hasn't come close to playing at that all-around level on a sustained basis. However, Couturier's starting point entering the pro ranks was ahead of Bergeron's at the same age. Some veteran hockey people both inside and outside the Flyers organization believe that Couturier may be guilty of simply overthinking the game at times, while others think he still has room to add a little additional strength and to further work on his skating explosiveness.
Whatever the case, Flyers' general manager Ron Hextall's commitment to patience with the growing pains of young players is getting tested both with the 22-year-old Couturier and 23-year-old Brayden Schenn. Both player are wrapping up their fourth full professional seasons (including half-season stints in the AHL during the locked-out portion of the 2012-13 NHL season). Neither one is progressing with the straight upward arrow that makes evaluations easy; instead, there have been subtle forward steps in stretches, a lot of seeming lateral steps and the occasional temporary backstep.
In Couturier's case, the player does not seem to have much confidence when he has scoring opportunities. Some have said he simply has "bad hands," but his hands are absolutely no worse than Rod Brind'Amour's were in his heyday.
Brind'Amour was far from a naturally gifted finisher, he wasn't a speedster, and he also logged a lot of heavy duty defensive minutes on a yearly basis. Nevertheless, he still found ways to put pucks in the net at a more-than-respectable clip most seasons despite some annual lengthy dry spells and many years where the best wingers played on other lines.
Actually, in practice conditions, Couturier often shows pretty good hands. He has had trouble translating that into game conditions and believing he can be both a shutdown center and a reasonably consistent offensive threat. What he does not seem to have at this stage is an NHL "scorer's mentality", which was something the powerfully built Brind'Amour had in spades along with the strength he packed on one of the NHL's most powerfully built frames.
Brind'Amour had a steely determination that he would not be denied from getting to the "greasy" scoring areas (and stopping there if the opportunity presents itself), winning scrambles around the net and ability to make the mental leap from being a "shutdown forward" to a "scoring forward" and back again as the situation arose; which is harder to do than it sounds. Why? Sometimes it involves some risk-tolerance in getting on the wrong side of the puck and in shifting mental gears very quickly.
Couturier is still capable of getting that point. However, he has not done so yet on a consistent basis. Right now, it's still an either/or proposition with him and his defensive development is ahead of his offensive development. When given power play time, when counterattacking rushes develop and when he's given shootout opportunities, his indecisiveness is almost palpable. His defensive reads are still better than his offensive ones, and yet he still makes a lot of subtle but smart initial plays in the offensive zone that rarely end up in the net.
Herein lies the conundrum of player development. It's great to get prospects in the pipeline and nuture young veterans into growing further in the system. Couturier and Brayden Schenn (and his defenseman brother, Luke) were high-end first round draft picks who received a lot of hype before they ever skated a shift in the NHL; indeed, even before either was in his draft-eligible season.
So what happens when such players reach the NHL? They still have to navigate a treacherous and bumpy road for which there are no shortcuts to the desired destination -- and no guarantees that this point will ever be reached. Even the majority of top prospects do not maximize the potential that projected for them before they turn professional.
The hard part for organizations is to decide how long to wait before they turn elsewhere. Couturier and especially Schenn are getting to the point where they need to make their move very soon if they are to successfully play the long-term role the team has envisioned for them since their rookie years.
While the Flyers will not simply pull the plug on Couturier or Schenn and sell low, it is also fair to say that neither player is still an "untouchable" if the right off-season trade were to come along. It's a scary proposition on both sides. There is a danger of having the player fully blossom elsewhere (after your team got to pay the dues of their formative years) and there is also a danger of disappointment and diminished value if continued patience does not bear fruit.
In short, such is the maddeningly difficult world of trying to internally develop prospects into impact NHL players. It can be very tempting at times to instead try to win with rosters mostly consisting of well-established veteran players brought in from the outside. Hextall seems intent on shifting the Flyers back toward a process of building from within whenever possible.
As much as a majority of Flyers fans say they are all in favor of that approach, many are still quick to get frustrated with players such as Couturier and Schenn if their development moves at a slower-than-hoped pace. With the Flyers having a non-playoff season, there are a growing number of people declaring that both players aren't going to get much better and it's time to move them (and, presumably, bring in other young players they can get frustrated with and eager to dump within a few years).
Hextall is still an inexperienced NHL general manager. However, he does seem to have a plan that extends beyond just the short-term future. Unless there is a multi-piece deal that comes along this offseason that can (in his view) propel the team toward its longer-terms goal at the expense of parting with Schenn and/or Couturier, the general manager seems inclined to staying the course awhile longer.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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