John Tortorella provides major update on Sean Couturier

Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella told reporters today that forward Sean Couturier has suffered a setback in his recovery from a suspected back injury. While Couturier was expected to resume skating this week in the hopes to return to action sometime next month, it now appears that he'll have to push his season debut back even further.

From Tortorella via Flyers reporter Jordan Hall:

Ouch... that's a tough blow.

It should go without saying though that losing Couturier for an entire season would be an absolutely devastating blow to the Flyers. The 29 year old center is the heart and soul of this team and, to me, he looks like the most likely to candidate to succeed Claude Giroux as the team's next captain. He's a player who is tailor made for John Tortorella's system and now it looks like he won't even be able to lace up the skates this season. Ouch.

More from Flyers insider Anthony SanFilippo earlier this mont:

According to sources, while Couturier is being re-evaluated, it’s not looking good and that the belief is he will miss at least 12 weeks. That, however, could be on the optimistic end. There is a thought it could be longer and extend well into the second half of the season, if not the entire season.

It is unclear whether this injury is directly related to the back surgery from February, or if this is a new problem for Couturier, but to lose him for at least the first three months of the season would be a crushing blow for the Flyers.

An attempt to reach Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher was unsuccessful, prior to this post being published.

If both Couturier are indeed on the shelf for the season, I suspect that the Flyers will find themselves at the bottom of the NHL's Metropolitan Division for the second season in a row. Truth be told though, they may find themselves in that position regardless of either players' status, despite the strong start to the season that the Flyers have experienced under Tortorella in the early goings.