Photo Credit: Zack Hill
The Flyers have a Gold Medalist in Scott Laughton and a well deserved one. Laughton and Team Canada won yesterday after a 5-2 victory over Germany at the World Championships, “They’ve had a good tournament so far. They added some big boys and good players,” a leader Laughton said after falling to the Swiss, which turned out to be quite the loss they needed to regroup. “I thought we were prepared. They came out hard in the first, kept us on our heels, but then we found our game and got more chances. We’ll try to build off that and look forward.”
Look forward they did, but when thinking of the Flyers overall makeup of their team, some people think of some household names like Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, Carter Hart, and Travis Konecny all for good reasons. One name that doesn’t come to some peoples’ minds is Scott Laughton, “I love it here” said Laughton. This past season he eclipsed playing in more than 500 NHL games, an accomplishment that’s quite impressive.
A 28-year-old in Laughton has been working his tail off consistently throughout this season, no matter where the coaching staff asks him to play. If they want him to play Center…no problem…play the wing…no problem…top line…no problem. He’s as versatile as they come, and Laughton does his job admirably, “I think the step that some of those young guys made this year, and just the feel around the room, I think it was a little bit different from maybe the year past and the belief within guys and throughout the year, obviously, not where we want to be,” Laughton said. “But this is a situation we’re in and we have a lot of young guys that have stepped up and played bigger roles. I think you saw it in the last two months or so, they’re getting more opportunities and playing against some top guys and really getting their feet wet. You don’t always get that opportunity as a young guy to play those big minutes and be in key situations. So, I think it can only help down the road when we have a couple of young forwards that I think can be very valuable for us going forward. So, it’s exciting for us and them and it’s going be a big summer for a lot of those guys.”
As far as Laughts’ game, I don’t need to explain it to you guys. He leaves it on the ice all the time. You can tell the spots I’m putting him in, we depend on him. Does he make mistakes? Yeah, but I’m going to go with him. I have a good feeling of who he is. He’s done some really good things for us.” – John Tortorella said in November
Laughton’s like the energizer bunny, he never takes a shift off. He hits, creates some scoring opportunities, and just busts his butt every single shift. Laughton is one of those players that every team covets, mainly because of his versatility to play any position, and move up and down the lineup if need be. He is the leader this team needs, and Laughton speaks highly of the youth, “I think probably right off the top of my head is Tipper [Tippett],” Laughton said. “I think he took a massive step, was dominant for a lot of games, especially when TK was out and kind of took over that role for us. Frosty takes a huge step, scores 20 goals or close to, I think, and plays some good hockey for us. And Catesy [Cates] plays out of position, plays center all year, and plays against the top guys. I thought he did a hell of a job.
So, there’s three guys that kind of come to mind. And then you have Yorkie [York] on the back end that I thought looked very good again, poised with the puck and makes plays, and very skilled and looks like he can run a power play. So, you have those pieces come up and they’re not super young, even Foerster comes up and looks really good. So, they’re not super young, but it’s tough to get going in this league and I think they did. And yeah, time will tell.”
One thing every NHL team needs for success are solid bottom 9 and 12 lines. Even though, Laughton may not pot 20-25 goals, he is still very useful, and really makes the bottom 9 and 12 lines thrive. It just makes this young Flyers team that much more difficult to matchup with, and It makes their opponents think twice, as to what defensemen to put on the ice for matchup purposes, “It really doesn’t matter to me. I signed here long-term, I want to be playing meaningful hockey. When it gets nice outside, I think that’s the best time to play. I really hope these young guys can experience playoff hockey in Philly, because I don’t think it’s like any other. So that’s obvious, you want to do well for yourself and help the team.”
Laughton continued, “To be given the opportunity on the power play – first time where I’ve kind of been on the power play all year – and get those looks and it’s playing 20 minutes a night and playing against the other team’s top lines, and I got a ton of opportunity to kind of show what I could do. I’m thankful for that. But yeah, I’m decently happy with my year, obviously, you want to do more, and I think you can bring more to the table. But to be able to be put in those situations and succeed in some of them, it feels good for your game and all the hard work that you do put in over the summer and been around for a little bit of time now and to get those looks. Now it feels good.”
“I really hope these young guys can experience playoff hockey in Philly, because I don’t think it’s like any other.” – Scott Laughton
He is a player that most teams covet. Laughton is a professional, he’s a good penalty killer, but most importantly he’s his versatile as they come. Is he the flashiest player? No. Is he a superstar? No, but he knows his role and plays it well, “I think Laughts has been a huge leader for this team this year,” teammate Carter Hart said at exit interviews. This is how some of his Laughton’s teammates feel about him. He is a leader, and Laughton just wants to get back to playoff hockey sooner rather than later. Hopefully Danny Briere can work his magic within the next few seasons.
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