Going back to when the Philadelphia Flyers extended Scott Laughton to his current 5-year deal, there was considerable interest in his services. Even going further back than that, many were shocked that the Flyers decided to keep him during the inaugural expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights over Pierre-Édouard Bellemare. That interest and those trade rumours have remained with the now 30-year-old as we enter a pivotal cross road for player and team.
For the record, the Flyers don’t have to move Laughton nor does the player want out of Philadelphia. However, this year might be where his value will be at its highest considering he still has one year beyond 2024-25 and his cap hit is only $3 million.
If the Flyers wanted to move on from their Swiss Army knife, they probably would’ve already done so either at the draft or better yet as the free agent window opened. As we inch closer to the start of training camp and the regular season, it seems like Laughton will stay put, but is that the right move for a club that is supposedly undergoing a rebuild?
Drafted in the first round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Laughton is currently the second-longest tenured Flyer behind only Sean Couturier, who was drafted in the first round the year prior.
It wasn’t a vaunted draft class but the Flyers certainly liked what they saw from the 18-year-old at the time who brought about a feisty and aggressive style of play with 53 points and 101 PIM for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. Ranked as the 28th-best North American skater, the Flyers took a chance on the youngster but it didn’t look like they really missed out, considering the lack of talent and production that followed the 20th overall selection to close out the first round.
Laughton quickly impressed as he posted 56 points in 49 games the following year before adding 7 goals and 13 points in 7 postseason contests. He would then play 5 games for the Flyers – during the lockout-shortened season – and also featured in 6 games for the Adirondack Phantoms. Laughton returned to the OHL in 2013-14, where his offensive game reached another level with 40 goals and 87 points in just 54 contests. He only kept improving as he made an immediate impact for the Phantoms in 2013-14 with 27 points in just 39 contests as a rookie.
His offensive game at the NHL level took a hit after posting just 19 goals and 47 points in 190 games played in his first 5 seasons. However, he followed that up with a little more tertiary scoring as he posted 45 goals and 109 points in his next 251 games – 4 seasons – before finally putting it all together in 2022-23 in what was a career season under John Tortorella. He scored 18 goals and 43 points in 78 contests, while averaging 18:17 TOI. Finally given some power play minutes with the roster depleted of talent, he posted 5 goals and 4 assists with the extra attacker, further solidifying his capabilities of a well-rounded, two-way game.
With the Flyers officially rebuilding – or at least under the guise of one – Laughton’s name has only become more and more popular. After having rejected trade offers time and time again, will the Flyers finally bite with just 2 years remaining on his current deal? The 2024-25 season will be the last time the Flyers can bank on Laughton’s value being held up by the fact that he has term remaining, considering he’ll be due for a contract in the summer of 2026.
Even if the Flyers decided to wait until 2025-26 to make a decision, contending teams will assuredly still be in the hunt but at a far lesser cost of acquisition. Term is the name of the game for deals in the modern NHL and there’s a massive difference between an expiring contract or one that still has a year or two remaining.
The front office and coaching staff hold him in the highest regard, which makes their decision that much harder. Plucking him off the roster isn’t as simple as it sounds because of the ramifications and repercussions it would have off the ice, just as much as his impact on the ice. They would not only be losing a pivotal penalty killer, but they would also be down a centre and a leader within a locker room that is the second-youngest in the NHL today. Unsurprisingly, that is a quality that is sought after by many organizations.
Despite his importance and gravitas, waiting another year would be a terrible form of asset management unless the Flyers believe they’re serious contenders – which for all intents and purposes, they don’t. Laughton has served the Flyers valiantly but if he remains on the club after the trade deadline passes in 2025, it would beg a serious analysis on the “New Era of Orange”. Laughton can very well be one of the bigger names on the market this year and would be able to net you valuable assets amidst a bidding war.
Philadelphia has to hold onto Couturier for a variety of reasons, perhaps none more obvious than having named his as the club’s captain earlier this year. They also have veterans in the form of Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Garnet Hathaway, and Nicolas Deslauriers for at least the next couple of seasons. Losing Laughton would be a tough pill to swallow, but it would finally give the rebuild some depth outside of the few moves they’ve made in recent memory like buying out Cam Atkinson or trading Ivan Provorov.
