The Philadelphia Flyers might not be as involved in the upcoming trade deadline as we thought several months ago, but the rumor mill just cannot stop churning.
After recent reports of Sean Walker garnering interest from multiple high-profile teams, and the constant Morgan Frost rumors, we can now add Scott Laughton’s name to the list of current Flyers who might no longer be a part of this team come March 8.
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, after the Elias Lindholm trade to the Vancouver Canucks, the trade market for centers grew ever thinner. And now, general manager Danny Briere are reportedly taking calls on Laughton and seeing what teams can offer for the 29-year-old forward.
Laughton wouldn’t be just a rental, pending unrestricted free agent that the Flyers would theoretically be squeezing some value out of. He is signed through the 2025-26 season at a cap hit of $3 million, making him an unrestricted free agent at the age of 33. It would certainly be taking away part of the Flyers current leadership group — Laughton is an alternate captain and is a very vocal member of the locker room — but sometimes hockey business is hockey business and the rebuild continues.
Laughton can certainly be a solid third-line center if the supporting cast is just right on a Stanley Cup contender. It’s not out of the question for him to be just that, but this season has just not gone very well for him. Through 50 games, the man from Oakville, Ont. has scored five goals and 20 points while averaging just over 15 minutes per game. The production is roughly the same — he scored 43 points in 78 games last season — but some of the underlying numbers are not what they once were. He is not able to control play as well as before, with just an on-ice 5-on-5 shot attempt share of 44.20 percent, and an on-ice 5-on-5 expected goals share of 44.13 percent. Those are not great and his lowest playdriving numbers since the 2014-15 season.
Regardless of his numbers this season, whichever team is trying to pry Laughton away from Philadelphia would probably have to pay a significant amount considering his low cap hit and having three potential playoff runs with him on the team.
Laughton has been with the Flyers since they drafted him 20th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and has played 569 games for the team.
