How will the veteran forwards on the Flyers perform this season?

Sometimes, a team is only as strong as its weakest link. And while we are not necessarily calling these weak links whatsoever, there are a few forwards who will be nothing more than bottom-six forwards for the Philadelphia Flyers this season. They are experienced veterans who know the lay of the land and the ups and downs of an NHL season, and that is exactly what the Flyers need them to be.

The expectations for these forwards are low. They are here to be in a certain role where any mistakes will be discussed more than any success -- they just can\'t mess up or be absolutely terrible while on the ice and they will provide just what they need to.

Looking forward, while the bar is fairly low, it could be an interesting season for these guys.

Nic Deslauriers

What did we see from Deslauriers last season?

In his second season after signing a four-year contract with the Flyers, Deslauriers\'s position on the team shrunk even more. To our knowledge, he was healthy all season long but appeared in just 60 games -- getting in games whenever another tough guy was in the opposing lineup, mainly. And in that limited time, Deslauriers scored one goal and four points.

Of course, we aren\'t focused at all on how many points this winger scored. That\'s rarely important for a player like Deslauriers. The 33-year-old did manage to get in a total of 11 fights and some of them were all-star bouts, like the one up against Rangers rookie and viral sensation Matt Rempe.

https://youtu.be/Q2WpLl3TsoY?si=9bxzp-HWX4orhNu0

That is what he brought to the lineup. Someone who can drop the gloves whenever that was deemed necessary in the game.

Yeah, we can talk about how at 5-on-5, Deslauriers earned an on-ice shot attempt share of just 45.37%, and how the Flyers had just 43.93% of the expected goals while he was out there, as well. But all of that stuff is not really why he\'s on the team. Honestly, those numbers are better than we imagined they would be.

But where do we go from here?

What type of role do we expect Deslauriers to play this season?

As the roster is set up right now, just days away from the season opening in Vancouver on October 11, Deslauriers is purely an extra forward. With Jett Luchanko making the team out of training camp, Deslauriers is the 14th forward in terms of the depth chart, and if he gets sent back to juniors, he will be the 13th. However many forwards there are on the roster, Deslauriers will be at the bottom of that depth chart.

What he will be used for is punching faces. If it\'s Rempe on the Rangers, Ryan Reaves on the Leafs, or any of the other pure tough guys around the league, Deslauriers will be plopped down on the fourth line to do it at least once that game.

With more and more young players taking strides, and guys like Olle Lycksell and Anthony Richard showing that they can hang with NHL talent, we really think Deslauriers will play even fewer games than last season. He is appreciated for what he does, but if the fourth line can have a potential scorer on it instead, then that would be ideal. Don\'t want to waste 8.3% of the forward lineup on someone who will not do that.

There is a time and place, but there might be fewer times and fewer places for Deslauriers this season.

Garnet Hathaway

What did we see from Hathaway last season?

Hathaway is the player that you think of when you think of an ideal fourth-line forward. Will hit, punish people along the boards, positionally strong, solid in the first two zones and fine in the final third, and isn\'t afraid to drop the gloves. During his first year in Philadelphia, he did all of those things.

Hathaway was maybe the most consistent Flyer on the ice, as well. The 32-year-old played in all 82 games and he never really made a glaring error that caused us to think about whether or not he deserves to be on this roster. His seven goals and 17 points contributed just enough to the overall offense for him to not be nothing around the net, and while he had an on-ice shot attempt share at 5-on-5 of 50.61%, his expected goal share of 55.96% was even more dominant. The Flyers essentially split the shot attempts while he was on the ice, but he surely kept the opposition to the perimeter and Philadelphia had the quality advantage.

He was exactly as advertised -- a strong, two-way winger to be a perfect fourth-line winger.

What type of role do we expect Hathaway to play this season?

Hathaway isn\'t developing into something more. He is what he is and ultimately, we\'re just hoping for him to not have a steep decline right now. Just be what he was for a couple more years and really let that contract extension play out.

The only thing that is different for this year is the potential of young players banging down the door for his roster spot. We already like Olle Lycksell more than we have ever before, but is he really better than Hathaway? Maybe offensively, but what the veteran forward provides in almost every other category, Lycksell can\'t do.

There\'s no need to really dive deeper than that -- just be what you are, my dude.

Scott Laughton

What did we see from Laughton last season?

We touched on this earlier, but Scott Laughton was not good last season for the Flyers. Whether it was him starting to lose control offensively later in the season, or just not being as solid defensively as he has been since developing into that middle-six forward we wanted him to be, the 30-year-old forward contributed to the Flyers being the worse team whenever he was on the ice. Read the article for a little bit more detail and numbers, but man, Laughton was just a sinkhole with his underlying numbers.

His 13 goals and 39 points was perfectly adequate for the minutes he got, and in line with what he has been in the past, but his defensive play was just not good enough compared to other players like Noah Cates and Hathaway.

It was just a disappointing season overall, and it really matters what happens this upcoming year.

What type of role do we expect Laughton to play this season?

It\'s interesting. Heading into last season, Laughton\'s reputation was a third-line player that is just so versatile, that he could really play anywhere in the lineup on any wing or down the middle. But after what he managed to do last year, it\'s tricky to picture him getting out of the bottom-six and not spending the majority of the year on the fourth line.

When the season opens up on October 11 in Vancouver, he will most likely be on the fourth line. And that is certainly because Jett Luchanko will be the team\'s third-line center and the wingers are significantly talented offensive skaters. Laughton\'s spot will be on the bottom line and someone like Noah Cates will most likely be the healthy scratch. Of course, if we are making the likely assumption that Luchanko will eventually head back to play junior hockey, could Laughton go and take that third-line role? Certainly. But like we said, it might just make more sense for someone more responsible defensively to balance out that line with Joel Farabee and Bobby Brink, and Cates can do that if they feel comfortable with him playing down the middle. If not, Ryan Poehling is an option.

Laughton desperately needs to have a big bounceback season. He has two years left on his current contract and if he will remain with the hockey club that drafted him over a decade ago, he will need to show that he isn\'t losing steam at a rapid pace. Because we already know his name will be involved in trade rumors this season, like it has for the last two, and if Laughton has a lackluster start, then could we see the Flyers veteran get traded? It can certainly make sense.

He seems to be playing for his future, and it all starts right now.

Player Previews: Veteran depth forwards to provide foundation

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