Couturier, Briere still have bond, at forefront of Flyers' playoff push

PHILADELPHIA -- Sean Couturier remembers his early days in the NHL, talking to his housemate about how they could make the Philadelphia Flyers better if one of them was the general manager.

"We used to just mess around when the (NHL Trade) Deadlines come, 'What are we going to do?'" Couturier said. "'I'd do this, this and this.' Now it's all on you, Danny."

Those fantasy conversations have become a reality for Daniel Brière, Couturier's former landlord and teammate who has been general manager of the Flyers since replacing Chuck Fletcher on an interim basis March 10, 2023. Briere was made the full-time GM on May 11, 2023.

The two have been close since Couturier made the Flyers as an 18-year-old rookie just a few months after Philadelphia selected the center with the No. 8 pick of the 2011 NHL Draft.

"My first camp ... (then-GM) Paul Holmgren came up to me and said I would be sticking around for the year," Couturier said. "During that conversation he basically said we don't want you to live on your own, and we either have some billet lady, she took care of some guys in the past, or Danny Briere offered himself to open his house for you to stay there. So, I went with that option."

Briere said it was an easy choice for him to take in Couturier; the same courtesy had been extended to him by veteran players when he was breaking into the NHL with the Phoenix Coyotes. And Claude Giroux had lived at Briere's home the previous season.

"Where I was in my life and my career, it was a good setup," Briere said. "I was going through a separation myself. I had the kids at home, they were getting older. It was pretty cool, the relationship with my kids, the big brother kind of kind of relationship that came out of that. And for me, people say it was nice of you taking him under your wing, but I think both him and Claude did a lot for me too. They kept me younger, kept me closer to the new generation coming into the team and kept me more in touch with our younger guys because I wasn't getting any younger.

"I have to be honest; Sean didn't need a lot of guidance. You could tell he was very mature already at 18 years old, taking care of all his stuff. I didn't really have to worry about him at all."

Couturier might have been more mature than the typical teenage hockey player, but he certainly saw the benefits of staying with a respected veteran like Briere.

"To live with him, it's one thing to see the guys work at the rink, but I think on and off the ice, you can learn a lot, how to be a good pro and how to just represent the Flyers and be mature as a young guy," he said. "And it just made it easier to not have all the responsibilities of paying bills, making sure I'm not late on anything. Those are things that as you get older kind of comes easy, it's life. But when you don't know it, it can be a lot of responsibilities."

They were teammates for just two seasons, but they were together again after Briere retired in 2015, returned to the Philadelphia area and transitioned into a front-office role with the Flyers.

Briere started on the business side, including time running an ECHL team in Maine owned by Comcast-Spectacor, the Flyers' parent company. He shifted into a player development role in 2020 while also informally advising Fletcher, and in 2022 he was named special assistant to the GM, the role he held before replacing Fletcher.

During that time, Couturier was developing into one of the top two-way centers in the NHL. He had back-to-back 30-goal seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and won the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the League in 2019-20.

But a back injury that led to surgery cost him most of the 2021-22 season and all of 2022-23. The second surgery, in October 2022, was expected to need a recovery time of 3-4 months. By March 2023, Couturier was practicing on a daily basis and pushing to return to the lineup.

But it was Briere, still new to the GM role, who had to take Couturier's skates away from him.

"It was a tough decision and I know he wasn't happy with it," Briere said. "I think he understood it. I understand also his point of view. He had put in so much work and so much sweat into getting back and pushing himself, and then when he's ready to go, I took that away. But looking back, we still feel it was the right decision to make."

As difficult as it was for each of them, it never put a strain on their relationship.

"It was tough, it was frustrating," Couturier said. "I still tried to sell my case at the time when he announced it to me. He was doing it for the best of me and the organization. It worked out, I guess."

After missing so much time, Couturier has returned as the Flyers' No. 1 center and most dependable player. Entering their game against the New York Rangers on Saturday, he has 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists), leads Philadelphia with a face-off winning percentage of 53.0 percent (minimum 100 face-offs) while averaging 19:29 of ice time in 53 games.

His play is a reason the Flyers (30-20-7) are third in the Metropolitan Division with a chance to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2020.

Couturier was named Flyers captain Feb. 14, but Briere knew long before this season that he eventually was going to be a leader for an NHL team.

"You could see that right when he got in at 18 years old, that eventually he was a captain-material type of person, just by his demeanor, how he was handling himself, how he carried himself around the rink," Briere said.

The relationship between Briere and Couturier remains strong, and certainly has evolved through time. But one thing that hasn't changed is the honesty at its foundation.

"We're not going to spend much time talking about which restaurants we're going to go to or the card game on the plane," Briere said. "But the one thing I appreciate with him is I know I'm going to get a straight answer from him on anything that I ask him. His evaluation of himself, of the team, is always right-on, and that's what I really appreciate from him.

“One of the things that was always impressive with Sean is his maturity at an early age, and it's still that way today. It hasn't changed and I know I can rely on him for a straight answer when I need one."

And as far as what happens before this season's Trade Deadline (March 8 at 3 p.m. ET)? That's all up to Briere.

"Obviously, we don't have the same conversations that we used to where we'd try to play GM and make trades and talk about that," Couturier said. "That's all on him now, so he's the guy. He's the one with the responsibility, so I can judge him."