Philadelphia Flyers NHL Trade Deadline Candidates: Scott Laughton
97.5 The Fanatic will examine Philadelphia Flyers who could potentially be on the move before the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. Danny Briere described their organizational outlook in maintaining the strategy of the rebuild.
“We keep an eye on the future. We’ve said from the beginning we wanted to build a team that was going to be a Stanley Cup contender for years to come and not just a one-in, one-out, one-in, one-out… The eye is still on the future.” -Danny Briere
The Flyers will not fit the traditional definition of sellers at the NHL Trade Deadline, however. They’ve already dealt their top trade chip Sean Walker to the Colorado Avalanche. Their next move to sign defenseman Nick seeler conversely validated Briere’s past words about avoiding a firesale of all useful veterans. Closer analysis can determine which moves do and don’t make sense for the Flyers in 2023-24 and down the road.
“A lot of it will depend on the marketplace. We’re not going to make trades just to make trades. If there’s something that makes sense that we feel makes us better for the future, we’ll strongly consider it.” -Danny Briere
- Sean Walker
- Cam Atkinson
- Rasmus Ristolainen
- Nick Seeler
- Morgan Frost
- Marc Staal
- Scott Laughton
Scott Laughton: 2024 NHL Trade Deadline Candidate
Scott Laughton didn’t meet expectations offensively with five goals and 15 assists through the NHL All-Star Break. He has picked up the pace with five goals and seven assists in his last 11 games through March 6.
The fact that John Tortorella never benched him despite the lack of production early in the season speaks to the respect the Flyers have for Laughton’s intangible value.
“He’s the glue, especially with some of the youth we have around here. They rely on him and ask him questions. Just the way he plays the game, I think it’s so important for what we’re trying to build here in Philly. The intangibles, when you’re trying to build a team and develop a room, he has those. That’s a big reason why he’s wearing a letter.” -John Tortorella
The advanced metrics validate the drop in production. His 46.12% expected goal share (xGF%) falls below his career expectations, especially considering that his team has driven play at 5-on-5 well this season. His numbers also indicate some defensive regression with a narrow increase in scoring chances allowed.
"I don't think for a second that the Philadelphia Flyers truly want to trade Scott Laughton...but because the market at center is so sketchy, why wouldn't you dangle him out there?"@DarrenDreger explained why Scott Laughton is a name to watch as the trade market heats up. pic.twitter.com/a8xtsWw0hc
Scott Laughton has been the subject of trade rumors dating back to 2021. Despite his limited playoff experience, his gritty style fits the characteristics that NHL GMs tend to crave, sometimes overaggressively, when the deadline looms.
Briere and the Flyers value their alternate captain. Their high opinion of the former 1st-round pick leads them to demand high value in trade negotiations.
If the center market pushes a Stanley Cup contender to offer a lucrative package, Briere could pull the trigger and move Laughton.
The 29-year-old carries a reasonable $3 million annual cap hit through 2025-26. He provides versatility to play up and down the lineup at center or on the wing, and he has also become a key element to Philadelphia’s penalty kill, ranked first in the NHL.
Competing GMs tend to look at a player’s full body of work in their deadline evaluations rather than just a player’s current season. The competitive drives sometimes leads to a belief that a change of scenery can get an accomplished player on a better track. Laughton’s recent resurgence should cancel out any doubts about his relatively slow first half in 2023-24.
The Winnipeg Jets have already sent a 1st-round pick in 2024 and a future conditional pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Sean Monahan. Laughton should bring a similar return.
The temptation of a strong return package could push Briere to make a tough decision. However, the Flyers continually emphasize culture as a key part of the organizational rebuild, for better or for worse. Their respect for Laughton is also a big part of that. Don’t expect them to trade the type of player who they believe embodies everything they’re trying to accomplish.
Stay/Go Verdict: Stay
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The All-Time Roster of Underrated Philadelphia Flyers
Mike Knuble
Peter Forsberg and Simon Gagne were the stars at the top of the lineup coming out of the 2004-05 lockout. However, there are three players on an NHL line.
Mike Knuble spent four seasons with the Flyers from 2005-06 through 2008-09, and he returned for a cup of coffee in 2013. He provided the perfect complement to a crafty playmaker like Forsberg and a finesse star like Gagne. He scored a career-high 34 goals in his first season in Philadelphia and followed it up with 24, 29, and 27 goals in the next three seasons, respectively.
Knuble knew his role as a garbage goal-scorer, and he played it damn well. He added 14 points in 24 playoff games with the Flyers, including an overtime game-winning goal against the Washington Capitals in 2008.
Kimmo Timonen
The NHL still associates the Broad Street Bullies mentality with the Flyers. Players like Chris Pronger feed into the identity of the fan base. The 6-foot-6 defenseman resonated with the fans perfectly as a fearless, powerful defenseman who became the workhorse on the Philadelphia blue line during the run to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.
Kimmo Timonen didn’t have the same reputation. The Finnish puck mover was more of a classy guy off the ice who didn’t bring as much grit as Pronger, but he actually had a longer run as the top blueliner in Philadelphia.
The Flyers acquired Timonen as part of a series of trades with the Nashville Predators that pulled them out of the disaster of the 2006-07 season. He averaged over 20 minutes of ice time in each of his seven playoff series wins with the Flyers. Only Mark Howe and Eric Desjardins scored more points among defensemen in franchise history.
Dan McGillis
Hockey in the late 1990s and early 2000s required more physical defensemen while modern roster construction prioritizes puck movers on the blue line. The Flyers acquired 6-foot-3, 220-pounder Dan McGillis in 1998 during a window of Stanley Cup contention.
McGillis played 380 regular-season and playoff games in orange and black. He was the physical presence a contending team needed, but you won’t see his name in the franchise record books too often.
Stay-at-home defensemen are harder to glorify than offensive catalysts. McGillis recorded a career-high 49 points in 2000-01, and it’s no coincidence that it was the only one of his nine NHL seasons when he received Norris Trophy votes.
Steve Mason
Anyone who follows the Flyers knows the notorious reputation of the “Goalie Graveyard” in Philadelphia. The revolving door of goaltenders reached its peak with the Ilya Bryzgalov nightmare that ended in 2013, right around the time the Flyers really started to lose popularity in the Philadelphia sports landscape.
Coincidentally, the Flyers acquired Steve Mason in 2013. He spent four seasons as the top option between the pipes for forgettable Flyers teams that never won a playoff series.
Mason wasn’t some Vezina Trophy winner who would reverse the “Goalie Graveyard” narrative. He was never going to demand the attention of casual hockey fans in Philadelphia who were only interested in a contending team, but he was the type of solid goaltender for a good period of time that the Flyers haven’t usually had.
Daymond Langkow
It’s tough to identify any reason why Daymond Langkow is underrated. Like Joffrey Lupul and Sami Kapanen, he doesn’t seem to come up in conversations about the Flyers too often. The NHL journeyman notched at least 50 points in each of his two full regular seasons in Philadelphia.
He helped the Flyers advance to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final in 2000 with 10 points in 16 games during the playoff run.
The Daymond Langkow trade tree had remarkable ripple effects on the franchise. The return package acquired from the Phoenix Coyotes in 2001 indirectly led to the acquisitions of Jeff Carter, Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, Jason Smith, Joffrey Lupul, and Chris Pronger.
