Scott Laughton is the second-longest tenured player on the Philadelphia Flyers, but he’s spent more time on the trade block than anybody else in the organization… and maybe all of professional sports.
Laughton, who will turn 31 at the end of May, was the Flyers’ 20th overall pick in 2012. Fast forward to 2025 and he’s got 653 NHL games under his belt and was serving as the de facto captain of the Flyers for a year and a half before Sean Couturier was officially given the role last year.
Despite the long presence on the trade block, he has managed to survive this long thanks in part to the sheer amount of respect he has garnered for his leadership both on and off the ice with both his teammates and the front office staff. But with the deadline approaching once again and changes surely(?) to come, do the Flyers actually considering trading Scott Laughton for real this time?
Do the Flyers overcome a years-long stalemate and finally trade their veteran forward? Or is there once again no fire to all the smokey trade rumors?
Keep
The main reason for keeping Laughton is the exact reason the franchise refused to part ways with at any point during the last few years- he’s a respected leader in the room and the de facto captain, even if he wasn’t actually awarded the “C.” It has nothing to do with his on-ice production or level of play. The organization is hell bent on establishing a culture and if Laughton fits that mold then he is going to stick around.
And if your eyes just rolled so far back in your head they did a full 360° spin at the word “culture”, it’s hard to blame you. But there’s nothing inherently wrong with keeping a veteran or two on the roster whose designated job beyond their on-ice role is to be the leader off-ice. The problem is the Flyers have drifted way too far into the ridiculous side of the gimmick and half the roster is here because they’re “good culture guys.”
Some of the fragility that the “culture” has spawned has been on display since the Frost and Farabee trade, where the roster players have been very public with their mourning, despite the team struggling to score and in a free fall down the standings as their playoff hopes slip away. It feels like Briere either has to rip the bandaid off entirely now, or just give up entirely and admit the inmates run the asylum. One trade from Briere was nice, but he still doesn’t have full trust that he’s about to take a flamethrower to the rest of the roster before the deadline.
Trade
Most playoff teams would love to add a solid depth penalty-killing forward that is also a great leader. that’s the exact kind of description of a player that gets dealt for a king’s ransom at a deadline.
The Flyers have been dangling Laughton in trade rumors for literal years now, probably ever since he originally re-signed back in the spring of 2021. And they keep balking at offers because they haven’t matched the very high price tag they’ve put on Laughton. But he’s not getting any younger and he’s not getting any better on the ice, if that price wasn’t met years ago, it probably won’t be met now either. It may just be time to bit the bullet in the name of a full roster overhaul heading into 2025-26.
Conclusion
At this point there’s probably a better chance of a meteor hitting Earth and wiping out all life on the planet than there is the chance the Flyers trade Scott Laughton, but on the list of players that should *theoretically* be on the trade block on a normal team, he would be high on the list. He’s a veteran depth leader who can play on the wing or center and only has one more year left on his deal at a $3 million cap hit.
The problem here is that the Flyers waited way too long to pull the trigger here with his overall value dropping over the last season or two. They failed to move him when his trade value was at its peak, so they just won’t move him at all now.
The Flyers and their reliance on culture is just completely overboard anymore. If they like Laughton as their leader, that’s perfectly fine, but considering they’ve handed out extensions to Nick Seeler and Garnet Hathaway and brought back Erik Johnson for a similar leadership role, the money and roster spots invested in depth leadership doesn’t make much sense considering the rest of the roster’s lack of scoring and general inability to be competitive. The balance needs to be settled, and moving on from Laughton is a way to start that shift.
Stories emerged after last year’s deadline had passed that some players stormed Briere’s office and chained themselves to his desk and engaged in a hunger strike until they got a guarantee Laughton wasn’t moved. While that may or may not be falsified a just bit for your reading entertainment, the feeling that Briere wasn’t the only one who didn’t want Laughton to leave was made clear.
So do the Flyers trade Laughton? Well it’s something that can’t be taken off the table, but it sure feels unlikely for various reasons. It doesn’t seem like they want to trade Laughton, as much as it’s a move to add some financial flexibility (which they chalked up the Farabee trade to above all else) or gain some assets for a veteran player and open a roster spot in the process.
Danny Briere himself noted it would take a substantial overpay in order to consider moving him, and there’s a very good chance that his diminished play will not warrant a team stepping up to pay the obscene price. If there’s a specific price tag Briere has in mind, the best bet to hit that will come at this trade deadline when teams are willing to get a little crazy when making additions.
The 2025 deadline would be a great time to sell as many roster players as possible. Clear spots and cap space and completely renovate the roster during the offseason. But the dreams of forward momentum clashes with Briere’s meager history with roster moves. The Frost and Farabee trade sparked some hope that things can change, but now it’s up to the front office to prove that one deal wasn’t a fluke. Can they do it? We’ll just have to wait until March 7 to find out.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: Getty Images
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