Photo Credit: Getty Images/Derek Leung
When thinking of the Flyers overall makeup of their team, some people think of some household names like Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Carter Hart, and Travis Konecny all for good reasons. One name that doesn’t come to some peoples’ minds is Scott Laughton, “You’ll see Scotty Laughton at center today,” Fletcher said yesterday. “Obviously, we know Scotty can play center. He’s played a lot there. I don’t think he needs a lot of work, but it’ll be good to get practice.”
Fletcher continued to talk about why Morgan Frost was sent back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, “To be honest with you, the coaches really like Morgan. This is probably more my decision putting him down. I think we wanted to give Morgan every opportunity to show what he could do. We played him with good player. We played him in important situations. I think the best thing for him long term is to play and play in an environment where he can get his confidence. It’s the best thing for him. It’s the best thing for us. We went into it in good faith and wanted to give him that opportunity. Again, the coaches, they’re really supportive of Morgan. This was more me to say ‘Hey, let’s do what’s right here. Let’s give him the chance.’ It’s not a rush to get him playing here. He’s going to play here, but let’s make sure we give them a chance to be successful. Predictably, his timing is a little off. I think having him go down to Lehigh Valley and play, play a lot and play every situation for Lappy will benefit him. Allow him to get his timing back and his confidence back. The next time you see him, he’ll be a vastly improved player. I don’t know that the best thing for him is to have him on a yo-yo. Up for two, down for two. I don’t think that, particularly early in the season would make sense.”
Laughton has been working his tail off consistently throughout the entire training camp, and as Fletcher alluded to above it will not take a lot of time to develop chemistry or rhythm at the center position again. He’s like the energizer bunny, Laughton 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, “I think Laughts is with JvR,” Fletcher said yesterday. “They played together before, so I don’t think it’ll take all that long for that chemistry to happen. We’re very comfortable with him in the 3C role. Scotty can play there. Kind of laugh every year since I’ve been here, we start him on the fourth line and we almost have internal bets just to put a timeframe on how long it will take for him to move up into the top nine every year.”
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 nine or top six, as well, “That’s Scotty Laughton’s life, I guess,” Fletcher said. “He handles it well. You got to give him credit. One day he’s second line left wing. Next day, he’s fourth line left wing and then he’s third line center. He gives AV that flexibility where you trust him in any situation. You can move him around and it doesn’t impact his play. He’s never pouts and always has a smile on his face. I think he knows that eventually he’ll get the minutes that he traditionally gets.”
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. This move back to Center is nothing new for Laughton as Fletcher alluded to above, and he will do it admirably.
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Laughton is a player that most teams covet. He’s a professional, he’s a good penalty killer, but most importantly he’s his versatile as they come. One thing is for certain Laughton is used to moving all over the place, but that’s a good thing especially since he’s a player that likes ice time. More versatile a player is, it can only benefit Laughton.
