Sean Couturier News

Let me first say this: right now, as you read this piece, Sean Couturier is one of the best defensive forwards in the National Hockey League , despite being all of 20 years old.

After such a disappointing season, the Philadelphia Flyers really need to consider what type of roster moves they need to make.

Out of the Flyers' previous eight first-round picks, dating back to 2003, how many of them were spent drafting a defenseman? Seven of the Flyers' last eight first-round picks were forwards: Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Steve Downie, Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk, Sean Couturier and Scott Laughton.

That's not a knock - or at least, an intentional one. You see, Kimmo Timonen , Braydon Coburn , Andrej Meszaros , Luke Schenn and Nick Grossmann are all fine players.

With half the league currently battling for Lord Stanley's Cup, the other half will use the offseason to rebuild, refocus and reload.

As much as Flyers management would have loved turning their 1.5 percent shot of winning the NHL's draft lottery into a celebration, it's OK with staying in the No.

The fact is, opponents had the better scoring chances, had many more odd-man rushes, and had goalie Ilya Bryzgalov's head on a swivel as he watched teams cycle the puck around him.

Not this year. Not after the Flyers failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and only the second time since 1995.

Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center was a fun last hoorah for the Flyers, even the ones who weren't playing.

Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov took some undeserved flak the other night when answering a question about what it would mean if the Flyers won their final four games and finished 23-22-3. "What's the point? There's no difference," he said.

Given the way it started in October, even Jason Akeson probably couldn't have predicted tonight's finish to the season.

Speedy right winger Jake Voracek, who has blossomed into one of the NHL's top scorers, was named the Flyers' most valuable player before Thursday's home finale against the New York Islanders.

Looking around the NHL, it is tough not to notice the many former Philadelphia Flyers succeeding else where.

If Danny Briere is emotional about the possibility of playing his last home game in a Flyers uniform on Thursday night, he isn't showing it.

After a highly disappointing season for the Philadelphia Flyers , it's now back to the drawing board - beginning with the NHL Draft .

From a seat on a dressing-room bench that's a right turn down the hall from where his game-day locker was last season, Jaromir Jagr -- the Flyer-turned-Dallas Star-turned-Boston Bruin -- tried to avoid spilling his guts on why his time as a Philadelphian ended after just one very enjoyable season.

Hello. Today we talked to SBN Hockey Editor and Broad Street Hockey's own Travis Hughes about the hilarious state of the Flyers .

Paul Holmgren talked with ESPN on Monday about what went wrong last season and what he's thinking heading into the offseason.