Flyers planning to scratch team captain

The Philadelphia Flyers are planning to scratch team captain Sean Couturier, per The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor (Twitter Link). The scratching comes one month after Couturier was awarded the captaincy – becoming the team’s first captain since Claude Giroux’s reign ended in the 2021-22 season.

The Flyers also recalled forward Olle Lycksell and defenseman Adam Ginning on Monday, with both players expected to now slot into the lineup – Lycksell ahead of Couturier and Ginning ahead of Marc Staal.

Philadelphia will hope to find a spark with these moves, after an unconvincing 4-6-1 stretch over their last 11 games. They’ve been outscored 32-to-42 in that span, with Couturier managing just three assists. Lycksell will replace him, after recording one goal and six points over his last two AHL games. The 24-year-old winger has appeared in nine NHL games already this season, netting three assists. The appearances bring his career totals up to four assists in 17 games, though he’s still searching for his first NHL goal.

Ginning has also appeared in the NHL this season – stepping into the lineup on March 7th for a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers. It was the second NHL game of Ginning’s career, with the stout defender managing two penalty minutes, a -1, three blocks, and seven hits in the pair of matchups. He’s still searching for his first NHL point. Ginning has been a consistent piece in the Lehigh Valley Phantoms’ lineup, where he’s totaled two goals, 13 points, and 82 penalty minutes in 56 games this season.

This is the first healthy scratch designation that Couturier has carried in quite some time, though it calls back to John Tortorella’s scratching of Kevin Hayes in December of last season. Philadelphia experienced a 6-3 loss without Hayes in the lineup, returning him to his usual role in the subsequent game. The Flyers will hope for better fortunes this time, as Tortorella is once again leaving a seemingly top-name out of the lineup.