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. He’s like the energizer bunny, Laughton never takes a shift off. He hits, creates some scoring opportunities, and just busts his butt each and every shift. For his efforts, he has won the Yanick Dupre award for the 2019-20 given to the Flyer who showed the best character, dignity, and respect on and off the ice.
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.
Vigneault placed Laughton in situations he deserved to be in. Whatever the case maybe for Laughton will do anything the coaching staff asks of him with no complaints, and he is the definition of a true Professional.
