The young 23-year-old in Tanner Laczynski was over a points per game player in the Big Ten while he was at Ohio State University. He had 143 points on 48 goals and 95 assists in 138 games. Last year in his Senior season, Laczynski lead OSU with 34 points while having a plus 9 rating for the 10th ranked team in the nation. All of his years at Ohio State Laczynski was a key catalyst for the team scoring a stellar 32 points in 34 games in his freshmen season to then just go on to further impress from there. Laczynski as said before, has proven effective on special teams and that is proven in the numbers as he lead the Big Ten with 17 power play points. It is also important to point out Laczynski also played in all seven games for the 2017 Word Junior Champion Team USA. In that tournament he showed off his impressive two-way game while tallying one goal and one assist. Speaking of his two-way game, Flyers Assistant GM Brent Flahr described his game perfectly back in March when he signed. Flahr said “He plays a mature two-way game. He’s a proven leaderand we see him as a versatile forward.” That perfectly sums up the game of Tanner Laczynski which is why I am excited he is part of the Flyers organization. Check out my video profile on Laczynski below.
Joe, I thought Tanner Laczynski was going to go the free agent route for some time, especially when he was a no show at last year’s Flyer development camp. (I was also wrong about Wyatt Kalynuk, who I never thought would pass on the Flyers). Tanner Laczynski is a solid 200 foot player and he is great at using angles to get to where he needs to be on the ice. Great penalty killer too and I believe his face off skills will be outstanding, especially in the defensive end, where he excels. Laczynski is great along the boards too and is a physical player who can grind it out in tight games. He may lack a little speed, but he makes up for that with smart play and always being on the right side of the puck.
I can see Tanner Laczynski spending a season in Allentown with the Phantoms and maybe even getting a few games with the Flyers on the checking line in year one. He certainly won’t lack what it takes to be a shut down player and that’s ok. Sean Couturier started out that way and was a very similar player when he started. Laczynski is no flashy, he doesn’t make highlight reel plays, but when the game is over, he will leave his mark in the final score. Gregg Lorenz, Morrisville Pa