"He is a just a pro in how he approaches the game, day in and day out. It's his mental mindset, his preparation, his work ethic," Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said of the two-time Selke Trophy finalist.
"He's had success in this league for a lot of years because he is a smart player. He's not a 'numbers' guy. When we talk about culture, Coots sets an example. He cares about playing the right way and doing what it takes to win hockey games."
When asked later about attaining the individual milestone on his birthday, Couturier gave a cursory answer. However, he quickly turned the focus back to the improvement of the current team as a whole. He cares more about the team pushing through to the next phase of becoming a contender than about reflecting on his journey from his 2011-12 rookie season to 2025-26.
I know we're a young team, but I think we've got to start believing in ourselves," Couturier said.
The captain's de-emphasis of his own milestone did not surprise longtime teammate Konecny. However, seeing Couturier attain it meant something to players like Konecny and Travis Sanheim, who've been around for much of the center's career.
"It's just great to see him play 900, he has been through a lot in his career. He has always just put his head down and gone to work, led by example. He's a guy that you can say he doesn't really care about that goal; he'll care about if we won or lost the game, and that speaks to why he's our captain," Konecny said.
This past weekend, when the Flyers played a home-and-home set with the Carolina Hurricanes, Couturier tied and then surpassed Hockey Hall of Fame left winger Bill Barber (903 games played) for third on the franchise's all-time regular season games list.
Claude Giroux played an even 1,000 games for the Flyers before he moved on to the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators. If Couturier stays healthy, he will catch Giroux next season. Meanwhile, Couturier is presently 238 games behind franchise icon Bobby Clarke's record 1,144 games.
Meanwhile, Konecny recently reached a notable milestone of his own. During the Flyers' 4-1 win against the San Jose Sharks on December, Konecny assisted on a Christian Dvorak goal for his 500th career regular season point. Later, Konecny added an empty-net goal.
"It's awesome. Doing it with the guys who've been here and helped me along the way. Tons of guys I could thank....I wish I could have played a little better doing it. I was a little scrambly tonight. But, yeah, it's great. I think, for me, where I'm at in my career, I just want to be in the playoffs," Konecny said.
Entering this weekend, Konecny sits at 506 career points in 679 games. He's starting to approach some big names -- Flyers Hall of Famers or likely future team Hall of Fame inductees -- in the all-time franchise leader board.
Up next: Catching Tocchet. Over his two Flyers stints as a rugged power forward, the Flyers' Hall of Famer accumulated 508 points (16th in franchise history) to go with his 1,815 penalty minutes.
Thereafter, in fairly quick succession, Konency can catch and surpass Reggie Leach (518 points) and Gary Dornhoefer (518 points) to move into the franchise top-14.
Looking further ahead, the likes of Simon Gagne (535 points), Rod Brind'Amour (601 points) and even Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Recchi (627 points) could be in reach for Konency in the future. Konecny will turn 29 on March 11, 2026.
