Holding Onto Scott Laughton Was The Right Move For The Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers trade deadline involved minimal action, including holding on to Scott Laughton.
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports - Holding Onto Scott Laughton Was The Right Move For The FlyersThe Philadelphia Flyers trade deadline involved minimal action, including holding on to Scott Laughton.
Not trading Laughton was the right decision due to the Flyers' position in the standings. Although he's been to the playoffs in three seasons, he's a veteran who knows what it takes to get there. This Flyers team has a good mixture of young players and veterans, but Laughton's leadership on the ice will be a good example.
Before Sean Couturier was officially named captain of the Flyers in February, head coach John Tortorella chose Laughton to be the only player on the team to wear a letter, as the league requires at least one player to have one on their sweater.
Laughton has been a Flyer since getting drafted to Philadelphia in 2012, and has made an immense impact on the locker room as one of the most tenured players on the team.
In his Deadline Day press conference, general manager Danny Briere highlighted how important it was for other teams to recognize Laughton's off-ice contributions before he even considered any kind of deal.
"I wasn't gonna trade him for fair value because he's more than fair value to us," Briere stated. "The intangibles that he brings to the locker room are something that has no price, and the other teams don't see that, but we do. I told him that...someone would have to overstep and really knock it out of the ballpark for us to consider it.
"I had a lot of teams interested in him, as you can imagine. There's not a lot of centermen. He's a good one, so it's a good thing for him. Teams around the NHL still value you, so I think that's exciting for him, but not good enough for us to let a player like that go who is critical to the development of our locker room and our young guys around him."
Naturally, on-ice contributions are just as important, and Laughton has been able to ramp up his offensive production after struggling with some inconsistency this season. Tortorella moved him up from the fourth line to largely playing on the first, a telling reward for Laughton's noticeable improvement.
"He's an important guy, he's well-respected, he's a Flyer," Tortorella said. "He cares and it rubs off on people."
Laughton has also been a key member of the Flyers' penalty kill (which is ranked first in the entire NHL), and has an intense, gritty playing style that aligns incredibly well with the style that Tortorella wants to see from his players. Although he's had his struggles with inconsistency and scoring draughts, he's always able to pull himself back up.
After this season, Laughton will have two years left on his deal. If the Flyers need to look into trading him again, he will be available and easy to trade because he has fewer years left on his contract. He will be turning 30 in May, meaning that he'll still have enough gas in the tank to be appealing to other teams in the league.
For his impact on the team and commitment to being involved in the community, it was absolutely the right decision for Briere to know what Laughton is worth on and off the ice and not let any team try to lowball that value. He's in a position where he can still contribute greatly to what the Flyers are building, but won't be difficult to unload should the team need to free up any roster spots. (Not to mention, he's the guy to credit for making the "Squirtle Saxophone Song" one of the Flyers' win songs, and subsequently one of the trendiest memes in the NHL this season. Enough said.)
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