Flyers exit interviews: Sean Couturier felt ‘pushed aside’ by John Tortorella; Cam York excited to play ‘freer’

Sean Couturier was the first player to sit down Friday for the first of two days of exit interviews, and, when prompted, the captain confirmed a strained relationship with former coach John Tortorella.

“I just felt that at times, I was getting pushed aside,” Couturier said. “I didn’t know the reason, or maybe wouldn’t agree with the explanations, or whatever was given to me.”

It may have been the elephant in the room, but it was more like a Borneo pygmy elephant — because everyone knew.

Although Tortorella decided to name Couturier captain on Feb. 14, 2024, he often publicly tore down the center’s game. In late March of last year, 34 days after being given the “C” and with his minutes slashed, Couturier watched two games from the press box as a healthy scratch. On the morning of the first game, and a day after Tortorella called him out for needing to play better, the forward said he had “gotten the same answers as [the media], just need to see more.” Then, like many of his teammates, he added, “Still looking to find out what that is.”

» READ MORE: Despite a disappointing season, the Flyers insist they’re not too ‘far away’ from returning to the playoffs

And he still isn’t too sure a year later.

“I don’t know,” the 32-year-old centerman said when asked if he ever got an explanation. “[But], I think if you look at the way he wanted us to play, it was fast, speed, quick on pucks. It’s maybe not fully my type of game, if you look at my career. I was never the fastest guy, but I still found a way to be first on pucks. I don’t know, honestly.”

Last season, his first since undergoing multiple back surgeries, Couturier had 11 goals, 38 points, and a plus-minus of minus-10 in 74 games. He fell off halfway through the season, and over the summer, he underwent sports hernia surgery. This season, the longest-tenured athlete in the city had his best season since 2019-20, finishing with 15 goals and 45 points, the third-most on the team. He was one of only five Flyers with a positive plus-minus rating (plus-1).

But in each of the last two seasons under Tortorella, Couturier averaged under 18 minutes. It was the first time that had happened since his sophomore season.

“Yeah, if you look at the minutes and stuff, I think it tells you how I was kind of maybe being pushed aside,” he said. “But, it is what it is. Didn’t agree with the way I was getting pushed aside, but I just tried not to be a distraction and keep my mouth shut. Put in the extra effort to try to get back to where I should be. A lot of it is on me, too. At times, I needed to play better.

“But yeah, it’s behind us now. Moving forward, whoever’s here, we’ll be buying in and doing whatever we can to get back in the winning column and getting back to the playoffs.”

Another guy who did not hide his problems with Tortorella was defenseman Cam York, and it nearly came to blows in a heated argument two days before the bench boss’s firing..

“Being able to play with a little bit more freedom, and maybe not gripping the stick as tight,” the 24-year-old said of the last stretch after Tortorella was fired. “As a player, that’s everything, in a way. It felt good to get back to that and have that mindset.”

In his last eight games, York had two assists and finished the season with 17 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 66 games. It represented a regression from 10 goals and 30 points the previous year for York, who is a restricted free agent.

“I don’t think I had necessarily much of a leash, but at the end of day, I didn’t play to the level that I can. And I think that’s probably the most frustrating thing for me. You can say all you want about me and the coach, but at the end of the day, I didn’t do my part.”

York is looking forward to playing freer next season because “when I’m not thinking out there, that’s why I’m at my best.” He’s also hoping for a chance to get back on the power play. He had a chuckle when it was noted he was the only defenseman who wasn’t given a chance with the man advantage under Tortorella.

» READ MORE: Noah Cates was a pleasant surprise, but goaltending and power play prove to be sore spots for Flyers in 2024-25

“I know I can, but it was pretty clear early on that that wasn’t going to be the case. I could feel it,” York said. ”Of course, I would have loved to have been on a power play and do that, and probably help my numbers maybe a little bit. But it’s just not how it worked out this year, and that’s all right. I focused on my five-on-five game and tried to be the best that I could there.”

Once again, Travis Konecny finished atop the Flyers’ leaderboard. The right winger had a career-best 76 points (24 goals, 52 assists) and was one of two players to play the full 82-game slate.

But he tallied only two goals and 15 points after the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“No, it wasn’t dealing with anything,” he said about injury speculation. “I think, just the push that I think I was making to try to get on that 4 Nations team at the start of the year, I think by the end of that, I was just drained, and it just took a lot out of me. And then once the play started to go down, just snowballs and [you] start getting in your own head. That’s just something on the mental side of things I’ve got to take care of.

“If we were in a better spot, a playoff push, that wouldn’t have been acceptable to do that. You look around the league, and some of the other players who went to that tournament, they find ways to get through it and come out the other side, and that’s something I can work at.”

The winger also had high praise for rookie Matvei Michkov, saying he is one of the most competitive players he’s come across.

“I think he’s probably the one guy that I’ve played with in my career that wants to be the best player in the NHL. He believes that he can be, and you can’t teach that,” Konecny said. “That’s just something that he wants and he believes in, and that’s a powerful thing.

“If he can continue to figure out how to play on both sides of the puck, and help us win games that way, too, he’s a really big part of this. … He wants to be a top scorer in the league, and that’s where his head’s at.”

Konecny will be playing alongside Travis Sanheim for Canada at the World Championships in May. Sanheim also has his sights set on the Olympics that will take place in Milan in February.

» READ MORE: Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim once ‘hated each other.’ Now the inseparable ‘Travii’ have reached the highest level of the sport.

— Nick Deslauriers gave Tortorella credit for building a strong foundation and a no-quit work ethic with the Flyers, but also joked that he’s looking forward to not having to do Tortorella’s dreaded rope test next training camp. The rugged forward revealed he dealt with a back injury earlier in the season, and that he and Tortorella did not always see eye-to-eye, and “battled a few times.”

— Tyson Foerster, who finished the season with 25 goals, including nine in the last nine games, said he wants to get better at trying to beat defenders one-on-one. ”Say in overtime, it’s a one-on-one, or something, three-on-three, it’s a lot of open ice, try and beat a guy to the net and try to score off of that, not just my shot,” Foerester said. He and linemate Noah Cates, both of whom are restricted free agents, reiterated they want to re-sign with the organization.

— Jamie Drysdale said he had a bit of a light bulb moment this season. According to the defenseman, Tortorella and then-associate coach Brad Shaw told him when he was out at the start of the year — “Hey, it’s not good enough. We need this, this, this out of you.” He realized he needed to make changes and “started building confidence in my game.” He plans to continue to embrace the “rover” role and acknowledged he still has a long way to go to be the best defenseman he can be. Drysdale also said he hopes to continue playing with his close friend York.

— Winger Owen Tippett said his upper-body injury at the end of January “ended up being worse than we thought it was originally,” but he will not need surgery.

— The rest of the Flyers players and general manager Danny Brière will speak to the media on Saturday.

» READ MORE: 5 big-picture questions for the Flyers as they wrap up their season