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When thinking of the Flyers overall makeup of their team, some people think of some household names like Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier, Carter Hart, and Travis Konecny all for good reasons. One name that doesn’t come to some peoples’ minds is Scott Laughton, “Just trying to bring the same thing every night,” Laughton said to me in February, “Just trying to be consistency. For the first few years I struggled with that, but I’m trying to bring the same thing every night to let the team know that they are getting the same player every night.”
Laughton has been working his tail off consistently throughout the entire season, and today provided details of debt bad Christmas road trip, “That road trip in Colorado was really ‘tough’ for us I think,” said Laughton, “Just trying to keep your mind focused on hockey, and it’s not there. We had a tough road trip and that was kind of the start of it. It makes you emotional, but the way Oskar is, the way he acts around everyone and just his positive vibe and energy. It really does bring a smile to your face. The way he’s battled, I know everyone’s seen the video of him ringing the bell and all that. Just a special human being and really enjoy being around him.”
He’s like the energizer bunny, Laughton never takes a shift off, “It means a lot,” Laughton said of awards, “I think the way my career has gone, being back and forth, to get a couple votes from different people definitely means a lot. I’ve said this before, but I’ve just worked as hard as I can to be a reliable player here. At the end of the day it’s about winning and I want to be a part of that. I’ve been here for long enough now where I know what to expect in this league. I definitely want to win. I try to bring it every night. It’s nice to get that recognition, but at the end of the day, it’s about winning at the end of the year. That’s my sole focus. Definitely a good feeling to get those votes from different people.” Laughton hits, creates some scoring opportunities, and just busts his butt each and every shift. For his efforts, he won the Yanick Dupre Award (Class guy) and the Pelle Lindbergh Trophy (Most Improved) for the 2019-20 season.
The well, versatile Laughton, does everything the coaching staff asks of him, and does it well. Vigneault wants him to play Wing no problem, he wants him to play Center no problem. Laughton can play in the top six, as well, like he is currently doing, much like his best friend Michael Raffl, “We live in the same building together, and we’ve grown close since Lake Placid in 2012,” Laughton said, “We have known each other for a while, and there’s comfort level there everyday at the rink.”
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. It makes their opponents think twice, as to what defensemen to put on the ice for matchup purposes, “I was talking about this a little bit this morning,” Laughton says, “I think probably earlier in my career, I would be more comfortable at center. The way the last couple years have gone, kind of switching back and forth, I think I’m comfortable at both positions and pretty much where ever they need me I’ll go. Both positions I’ve played enough in the last couple of years where I am definitely more comfortable at wing now than I was at the start of my career. Either-or is good.”
Vigneault placed Laughton in situations he deserved to be in. Whatever the case maybe for Laughton he will do anything the coaching staff asks of him with no complaints, and he is the definition of a true Professional.
