With the 8th overall pick in the 2011 NHL draft, the Flyers took center Sean Couturier. The 18 year old was actually born in Phoenix, Arizona when his father was playing minor league hockey there. However, when his dad retired the family moved to Bathurst, New Brunswick and he ended up playing for the Canadian national team.
Couturier says he’s honored to be a Flyer.
“I’m really happy to be part of the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s a great honor. I mean, it’s a wonderful day. They have a lot of history. I mean, it’s a great team, big guys. I’m looking forward to being part of it.”
He says that he had never even heard from the Flyers until yesterday, but when they acquired the 8th pick and called him soon after, he knew there was interest there.
“Actually my first meeting was yesterday,” he said, “so it felt pretty special knowing they just moved up. I knew they had a lot of interest, but like you said, anything can happen in the draft. I didn’t really know what to expect.”
Couturier says his goal is to earn a spot on the roster, but knows he has a lot of work to do before he’s ready.
“For sure my main goal is going to be to try to make a spot on the roster. We’ll go from now and work hard, keep working hard during the summer and improve myself and be ready for camp. Once I get there, I just want to show what I’ve got.
Personally I’ve got to get stronger overall physically and improve my explosiveness, my skating. But there is still a lot of work to be done. We’ll see in training camp."