Photo Credit: Our very own Michael Reaves
When thinking of the Flyers overall makeup of their team, some people think of some household names like Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett , shoot even Matvei Michkov get some, all for good reasons. One name that doesn’t come to some peoples’ minds is Scott Laughton, “To play 400 games for the Flyers and be with this organization since 2012, it’s special to me and my family,” Laughton said following the Arizona Coyotes game. “I love it here.” This past season he eclipsed playing in more than 500 NHL games, an accomplishment that’s quite impressive.
A 30-year-old in Laughton has been working his tail off consistently throughout the 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 on exit interview day. “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 a leader, and he explains the losing streak, “You’re in the NHL. This is your job to perform and to show up every night,” Laughton said. “That’s probably the biggest issue I had early on in my career was consistency on a night to night basis. I still had some of those issues this year of that.”
Laughton continues, “It’s consistency every night, and you see those teams that are at the top of the standings every year. They don’t lose two in a row. They go on streaks. They go into road cities, they win games, tough ones, back to back, things like that. That’s where we want to get. I think we made some really good progress from last year where it kind of felt a lot different, but this was a good steppingstone.”
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One thing every NHL team needs for success are solid bottom six players. Even though, Laughton may not pot 20-25 goals, he is still very useful, and really makes the bottom six 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, “It’s tough when we put ourselves in such a good spot at the start of the year. You’re pushing towards that goal of making the playoffs and you get that taste a little bit. You want to get back there. I haven’t experienced playoff hockey in Philly in quite some time. There’s nothing really like it. I think the guys have had those conversations with each other about getting back there. I want to be here. I’ve made it pretty clear. I want to be a part of this. I accept my role, wherever it is. I built a life here. I want to see it succeed and I want to be a part of this city when we’re at the top. I came in after a couple of big playoff series in 2010-11. I felt the energy and we started to get it back this year. I really want to be a part of this, so we’ll see what happens here.”
“I want to be here. I’ve made it pretty clear. I want to be a part of this, I accept my role, wherever it is. I built a life here. I want to see it succeed and I want to be a part of this city when we’re at the top. I came in after a couple of big playoff series in 2010-11. I felt the energy and we started to get it back this year. I really want to be a part of this, so we’ll see what happens here.” – Scott Laughton
Laughton celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday, and he hasn’t left town yet. He always remains around town in the offseason, as he continues to train in Voorhees, NJ. He’s committed to this town, to this team, to the fans. Yet, the question still remains. Will he be back with the Flyers or not?
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