The rebuild is officially in full swing in Philadelphia and the rumor mill is coming for every valuable player on the roster, with the most recent name to pop up being 29-year-old forward Scott Laughton. The Flyers’ first round pick in 2012 has been a staple in the lineup since 2017 and has evolved into one of the leaders and key forwards on the roster.
Trading Laughton is very much in line with a rebuild, but for the Flyers, they’d be losing far more than an everyday depth forward. Does it really make sense to trade him this summer?
Pros
Trade value
Scott Laughton’s play has aged like a fine wine. He posted a career-best 18 goals and 43 points during the 2022-23 season, not to mention his ability to play up and down the lineup in whatever role is asked of him. He is the prototypical player that any playoff caliber team would look to add to their middle six as cheap, very effective forward depth. Laughton has three years left at a $3 million cap hit, a very affordable deal for all he brings to the table.
Value greater than he himself
Laughton is one of those guys that could easily fetch a return that it greater than he could bring to the roster. He may have been a mainstay within the Flyers’ top six over the last couple years, but ideally, he’s a third line forward with solid play on either side of the puck. If a team offers a first round pick or more, it’s a value the Flyers seriously have to consider.
Cons
Is it the right time?
Dealing Laughton away during the offseason feels like peculiar timing. He always felt like a guy who would fetch a bigger return at a trade deadline as the quintessential Swiss army knife depth forward any playoff team would love to add. Would his value fluctuate greatly between now and March of 2024? Who knows, but if they’re looking to scope out the most optimal return, waiting until the trade deadline and hoping for another team’s desperation may be the best move.
Losing the leadership
Laughton was the only player on the team to wear an “A” on his jersey last season, serving as the de facto captain in the post-Giroux era, even though John Tortorella refuses to give anyone the actual “C” yet. He’s the leader in the room, and the player most connected to the community as well. While it could be another layer of his value to an acquiring team, the Flyers are losing far more than a random depth forward if they deal away Laughton.
Conclusion
Laughton is one of the more interesting cases on the roster when it comes to a potential trade. In terms of pure value, he may be behind only Carter Hart and Travis Konecny and should very much be on the table when it comes to a trade.
That being said, he plays in integral part behind the scenes as the locker room leader and the olive branch to the public of an otherwise untrustworthy team. It feels odd to preach a “culture” as heavily as John Tortorella and the Flyers do then deal the guy serving as the nucleus of that motto.
There’s a difference between just a random depth forward veteran and a true leader. If Laughton is the head guy in the room there’s an intangible balance that could be thrown out of whack if he’s gone. Some team have torn it down too far in that regard. Teams like Buffalo, Edmonton and Arizona seemingly struggle more than expected because they removed too many of the good leader veterans on the roster. Guys that aren’t easily replaced from the outside free agent pool or from within by rookies.
With Cam Atkinson scheduled to return after missing the entirety of last season with an injury, there will be someone to take his place when it comes to the leadership, and someone who Tortorella is just as comfortable with. So maybe losing Laughton wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it isn’t going to be an easy loss to overcome, especially of the Flyers stay relatively quite when it comes to adding outside talent over the next year or two.
Scott Laughton is going to be one of the harder players on the team to part with, not just on the ice, but off it as well. That being said, Briere seems unafraid to give this roster the slash and burning it desperately needs, and if there’s value for Laughton out there that’s too good to be ignored, he needs to get dealt for the betterment of the future of this organization, no matter how many waves it may cause in the short term.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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