Expect the Flyers to give center Scott Laughton a say in where he ends up if he leaves Philadelphia at the trade deadline, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports Thursday. That is, of course, despite his contract’s lack of formal trade protection.
It’s an approach teams are beginning to take with unprotected veterans, much like the Predators’ Ryan O’Reilly. In Laughton’s case, it’s fueled by general manager Daniel Brière’s and president of hockey operations Keith Jones’ desire to ensure “that Philadelphia becomes a desirable destination again,” Kurz writes.
Laughton isn’t the longest-tenured Flyer – captain Sean Couturier has him beat in that regard – but he is a Philly lifer. Selected 20th overall in 2012, he’s suited up in 12 NHL seasons for the orange and black and ranks 14th in franchise history with 657 games played. Trade speculation has swirled around the two-way center since the Flyers started their rebuild by trading former captain Claude Giroux at the 2022 trade deadline. Laughton signed a five-year, $15MM extension in the 2021 offseason, though, so there’s never been much urgency to move on from him with no risk of losing him for nothing until 2026.
The age-old question is whether a veteran player carries more value to a rebuilding club in their on-ice play and leadership or in the form of assets to build for the future. Now past the crux of their rebuild and with young names like Matvei Michkov in the system, the answer for Laughton is the latter. That’s led to consistently sky-high asking prices on the trade market for his services by Flyers’ leadership, something Kurz reports hasn’t changed. Darren Dreger of TSN said earlier this month that Philly still won’t part with him for anything less than a first-round pick. They’ve employed the same strategy regarding defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen’s availability, which has led to an unexpected lack of calls less than two weeks ahead of deadline day.
Laughton has been far more consistent throughout the last half-decade, though, and carries a much more stomachable $3MM cap hit through next season compared to Ristolainen’s $5.1MM. The 30-year-old pivot has averaged around 40 points per season every year since the 2019-20 campaign, averages 15-16 per game, and can play top-unit penalty kill minutes. He’s comfortable at center and left wing, and while he isn’t a dynamo on draws, he’s serviceable with a career 49.7% win rate. Everything considered, they should have a much easier time fetching that additional first-rounder for either the 2025 or 2026 class (or equivalent asset, as Dreger said) for Laughton than with Ristolainen.
It comes down to who’s willing to pay that price. Kurz expects Laughton isn’t too willing to make a considerable jump westward after his father-in-law’s passing last month. That likely removes center-hungry teams in the Central and Pacific like the Jets, Canucks, and Wild from the list if the Flyers don’t receive a completely above-value offer. However, Kurz said clubs like his hometown Maple Leafs would be acceptable destinations if the return value threshold is met.
Basically, Briere is justifying upping the price he wants.
I’d assume all/most teams would operate the same way if they were moving somebody that they weren’t just trying to force out. But that would all go out the window if the Flyers got an offer that was a wild overpay. Like hypothetically speaking, if the Sharks were the only team Laughton wouldn’t go to but the Sharks offered Macklin Celebrini + every single draft pick they currently own you can bet your house they’d pack Laughton’s bags and book him out on the quickest flight to San Jose without even asking if he wants to go there.
Prediction: Laughton to Washington for the Caps 2026 1st round pick.
I like that prediction to Washington but I think the Jets could use him but might have to give up Brad Lambert.
Caps tend to keep their 1sts, just doesn’t feel like something they would do
No kidding. A first round pick? For LAUGHTON?? The guy’s a solid third-liner, but he’s a third-liner. Don’t care how many years the contract has left or what the cap hit is, that’s just a bad tradeoff.
More likely for their 2020 1st round pick, Hendrix Lapierre.
Briere is just getting in front of stories which will reflect that he still has no idea what he is doing. Just forget trading anyone at this point, no need for more useless draft picks
That’s the spirit!!
I’m predicting that he’s part of a larger trade and my call is Toronto.