Is Sean Couturier a Franchise Player?

[ASquared]

Until Couturier wins a Selke, is the best defensive forward on a Stanley Cup winning team, etc. etc. he will not be regarded as good as Bergeron defensively. Bergeron was been elite defensively for years. Couturier has just started, and some might not even say he's elite there since the Flyers give up their fair share of goals.

Right now, Couturier is a one-dimensional player. It's really that simple. Whether or not he develops the other dimension, remains to be seen.

And while that's a fair assessment, would you consider the Selke Trophy to be a morphed version of an award for the best two-way player?

[27Blue]

Elite for 10 years, elite for one year, elite for 1000 years are still all elite... and you have to be blind or irrationally biased to say Couturier isn't elite defensively. You aren't biased against Couturier, are ya Ev?

And for the record, I don't consider Couturier anywhere near a franchise player. I just think he is elite defensively and I have no idea how the OP classifies a franchise player.

[Instant Karma]

I don't know why he necessarily would be. I myself am not biased against Couturier, but I fully agree with Ev here nonetheless.

[Big Ev]

Elite for 10 years, elite for one year, elite for 1000 years are still all elite... and you have to be blind or irrationally biased to say Couturier isn't elite defensively. You aren't biased against Couturier, are ya Ev?

He is good defensively, but elite is too strong of a word to just throw out there. I'm not saying he isn't, he HAS to prove it over time. Your quote is wrong, you have to be consistent and prove it over a long time to be considered ELITE.

[Axeman33]

I am a big Couturier fan as Big Ev knows, but theres no way even I consider him a franchise player at this stage of his career. He still has to grow offensively before he can really start to walk towards "franchise" territory for me.