Value of: Sean Couturier

[Neutrinos]

Couturier has been medically cleared to play, and is expected to be ready to go when training camp opens

He'll be 31 in December, and is signed for the next 7 years at a cap hit of 7.75 million

Assuming the medical stuff checks out, is anyone taking that contract?

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[0BGYN Kenobi]

He'll probably need to get at least a year of play in Philly before anyone even considers it. If he stays healthy and proves he can still play at a decent level, I could see him moving in a RyJo type deal. Otherwise, he's in Philly until he fully LTIRetires

 

[Don Nachbaur 26]

He doesn't have any value right now. No club will take on that term and salary without knowing for sure his back is good to go and he can withstand the grind. A GM would be fired within 24 hours if they took on that contract and gave something up right now.

 

[Maukkis]

Not a chance. There are healthy players of Couturier's caliber who cannot be moved anywhere, and they're on significantly smaller contracts too.

I guess the only scenario in which he moves is that his career is over and his contract is traded to someone who wants the LTIR benefit. But as an active roster player, totally impossible right now.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Not a chance. There are healthy players of Couturier's caliber who cannot be moved anywhere, and they're on significantly smaller contracts too.

I guess the only scenario in which he moves is that his career is over and his contract is traded to someone who wants the LTIR benefit. But as an active roster player, totally impossible right now.

There are not. Couturier is a top line, 2 way player with many years left, assuming the injury hasn't hampered him.

His contract and the fallout of this injury is a concern, but there are not many players available better than him.

 

[Sticktape]

That's a 54 million dollar risk right now.

 

[StewieP19]

I'm feeling bad for Couturier and the Flyers.
When he was healthy he show he can be a no 1 Center with great ability to shutdown players.
Now with his injury background, he need to play and let see how he react.
I really like this player but now too dangerous for a team to acquire him. Cost over 7M for long time.
A trade is not impossible but very doubtful.

 

[Djp]

He is immovable even if healthy given his age,

nobody is risking his age/ cap because the last few years will not be very good as ROI at 35+ yrs.

 

[leeroggy]

That's a 54 million dollar risk right now.

Turn him into a pitcher and Steve Cohen would jump at the opportunity; much cheaper than some of his current starters . . .

 

[FlyguyOX]

Play style bodes well for playing at a high level as he ages. A smart team like Vegas should do it, but yeah probably needs 0.5-1 season of healthy elite play first

 

[Recipe Unlimited]

Couturier is so lucky his potentially career ending injury started less than half a year after signing a $62 million extension.

 

[mydnyte]

Missed the final 2/3 of the season following a back injury which required, Couturier has been medically cleared to play, and is expected to be ready to go when training camp opens

He'll be 31 in December, and is signed for the next 7 years at a cap hit of 7.75 million

Assuming the medical stuff checks out, is anyone taking that contract?

didnt he miss the final 2/3rds of 21/22 and all of 22/23?

...he's not tradable right now.
First, he'll need to show he can still play, and then, his contract is quite long given his age in that major injury.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

He is immovable even if healthy given his age,

nobody is risking his age/ cap because the last few years will not be very good as ROI at 35+ yrs.

That's so absurdly wrong

If healthy, he's a tank every team should want

 

[TheKingPin]

Given the deals we have seen this summer, no way he’s moved this off-season. If he has a 70 pt year then someone’s likely getting a good player for low value.

 

[ponder719]

I see no way anyone comes looking to trade for Couturier before he puts in a full healthy season (presuming he does). However, with the cap most likely going up a few million dollars next year, if he does prove he's back and healthy, I could see teams that strike out on the FA market looking into trading for him at 50% retention (we'll have that retention slot back from DeAngelo, at the very least), and on half his contract, he should be worth a haul.

At 100%, he can be a 1C on more teams than not for a couple years, and will very likely age gracefully into a high-level 2C for the back end of the deal, given that so little of his game is based on athleticism. Even in the worst case scenario, that's a $3.875M deal for Selke caliber defense at 3C for the remainder of his deal. (well, true worst case if you trade for him is LTIRetirement, but from an on-ice perspective.)

Obviously, all of this ends up modified by what we actually see on the ice this year, but we can only work with hypotheticals for now, and a hypothetically healthy Couturier is tremendous value on 50% retention.

 

[Cootsfanclub]

He was healthy enough to play at the end of last season but the Flyers decided not to risk anything. Obviously untradeable until he's on the ice again.

 

[pth2]

I expect if moved it'll be for a Seth Jones type of player, ie, another overly generous contract with questions surrounding him.

 

[Gert B Frobe]

Not a chance. There are healthy players of Couturier's caliber who cannot be moved anywhere, and they're on significantly smaller contracts too.

I guess the only scenario in which he moves is that his career is over and his contract is traded to someone who wants the LTIR benefit. But as an active roster player, totally impossible right now.

There are no healthy former Vezina winners, with elite defensive center abilities on sub $5M contracts period, let alone several of these guys, that also cannot be moved. Unless you mean his "caliber" is represented by the last couple seasons when he was injured, but you said healthy players, so that doesn't make sense either. Yeah the entire post made no sense.

 

[TGWL]

He turns 31 before the year ends. His buyout is basically 'buyout impossible' when you look at cap savings, regardless how long you wait to buy him out. The contract is back loaded with signing bonuses. Good player but a real risk to any team that's going to make that move. If he can't stay healthy for the next 6 years, your hope is that the LTIR is basically retirement and not Couturier trying to keep coming back where your cap is really impacted further.

 

[Double Dion]

There are no healthy former Vezina winners, with elite defensive center abilities on sub $5M contracts period, let alone several of these guys, that also cannot be moved. Unless you mean his "caliber" is represented by the last couple seasons when he was injured, but you said healthy players, so that doesn't make sense either. Yeah the entire post made no sense.

He won a Vezina?! That's incredible! Must have blocked a lot of shots.

 

[Maukkis]

There are no healthy former Vezina winners, with elite defensive center abilities on sub $5M contracts period, let alone several of these guys, that also cannot be moved. Unless you mean his "caliber" is represented by the last couple seasons when he was injured, but you said healthy players, so that doesn't make sense either. Yeah the entire post made no sense.

The league is full of players on contracts that no one will take on. They range from bad to elite, some of which the Flyers have (Ristolainen, Sanheim, Couturier to name a few with a wide range of skillsets).

Couturier isn't a Selke winner right now, he's a complete question mark who might not ever be able to play productive hockey.

 

[Khelandros]

There are not. Couturier is a top line, 2 way player with many years left, assuming the injury hasn't hampered him.

His contract and the fallout of this injury is a concern, but there are not many players available better than him.

Couturier was* a top line, 2 way player with many years left, before the injury.

Until he actually plays a game and shows it hasn't affected him, he is none of those things you have stated.

 

[SnS]

Value is none til he can stay healthy and produce.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Couts is a great player. Injuries had derailed his career and with the term and cap hit he's negative value on that as it stands now.

Playing a full season and a good season at that would make the contract movable. Beforehand, no chance.

 

[Larry Hanson]

I guess the only scenario in which he moves is that his career is over and his contract is traded to someone who wants the LTIR benefit. But as an active roster player, totally impossible right now.

There is no LTIR benefit, LTIR does not create extra cap space.

LTIR allows a team to exceed the cap but the players contract still counts so it's a wash. The only time LTIR can be a benefit is if the player is injured all regular season and then comes back for the playoffs when there is no cap.