Bruins Should Target Gritty Flyers Forward
The Boston Bruins could line up a new centreman and physical beast.
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports - Bruins Should Target Gritty Flyers ForwardScott Laughton is a force to be reckoned with. Standing 6-foot- 1 and weighing 190 pounds, the big-time hitter, would bring the Boston Bruins even more physicality.
Philadelphia Flyers centreman Scott Laughton's contract with the Flyers ends in just over two years. He's not afraid to throw a hit or two - with 1,077 total career hits. He once landed 10 in a single game on March 4, 2021 against his Pennsylvania rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He also hasn't gone a season without a fight since his time with the Oshawa Generals starting in 2010. In his 2011-12 season with Oshawa, he racked up a whopping six fights.
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Laughton has more career hits in total than the Bruins have gotten this season altogether. The team has 1,075 total hits so far. But the Bruins are still a very physical team, with the average player weighing 201 pounds.
The Bruins already have big, strong forwards in their centreman lineup. They have 6-foot-3, 218-pound Charlie Coyle at the front, followed by 6-foot-4, 207-pound Pavel Zacha, 6-foot-3, 200-pound Morgan Geekie, and finally Jesper Boqvist is not small either at 6-foot-1, 184 pounds.
The Bruins have a history of fights and violent hits, including from now retired, defenseman giant Zdeno Chara, a Bruins legend, with a huge frame of 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds.
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Laughton would also be an offensive asset in general for the Bruins - he has 87 goals and 132 points in 570 games over his career.
Although he is not an accurate shooter, scoring only 4.5 per cent of his attempts, and is not the fastest skater either, with a 50th-percentile top skating speed at 22.12 mph, he has at least scored twice in his past 10 games, on Jan. 15 and 18.
An option the Bruins could consider is putting Laughton on the fourth line, and moving Boqvist via either a trade, to the AHL, or move him to a different position on the NHLs Bruins. Boqvist is at the bottom of their centreman line with $775K cap hit. He becomes a restricted free agent (RFA) at the end of this season.
Boqvist has underwhelming offensive numbers this season at just a single goal and two assists in 15 games played. One option is to reassign him to the AHLs Providence Bruins as they already have this season, trade him to another NHL team, or move him to another position on the NHLs Bruins.
Laughton's numbers would fit in well beneath Morgan Geekie. Geekie is in the third spot of the centreman line, with 8 goals and 15 assists.
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