Ever since the Flyers’ season came to a close, general manager Ron Hextall has been slowly but surely resolving every major open piece of free agent business.
First, he made sure that prospects Mikhail Vorobyev and Oskar Lindblom took their talents to North America. Then, he locked up restricted free agent Shayne Gostisbehere to a six-year contract extension. Finally, in the lead-up to free agency, he found a way to retain Jordan Weal, and answered the goaltending question by signing Brian Elliott to a two-year contract.
That left Hextall with only a few more necessary moves before the offseason would essentially come to a close for the organization. Specifically, there were five restricted free agents remaining that received qualifying offers who had yet to be locked up by the Flyers: Scott Laughton, Anthony Stolarz, Alex Lyon, Taylor Leier and Cole Bardreau. Now, that list can be cut down to four.
The Flyers announced late this afternoon that they had re-signed Laughton to a two-year extension. Shortly thereafter, Dave Isaac reported the terms, which came out to an average annual value (cap hit) of $962,500.
The #Flyers have signed C Scott Laughton to a two-year contract extension: https://t.co/NfaAOCD0LG
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 11, 2017
Laughton gets $875K in first year, $1.05 in second year. AAV of $962,500
— Dave Isaac (@davegisaac) July 11, 2017
This contract buys out two RFA years, but the team will still have two more years of restricted free agency control after this deal expires. Still, Laughton’s spot as a part of the Flyers’ future is far from secure. He played merely two NHL games during the 2016-17 season, spending most of the year in Lehigh Valley with the AHL Phantoms. That’s the track record of a player who doesn’t seem like a sure thing to make the Flyers in October.
However, despite his treatment last season, Ron Hextall and the Flyers seem relatively satisfied with Laughton’s recent development. Hextall chose to utilize an expansion draft protection slot on him rather than on veterans who received more prominent roles at the NHL level last year, such as Michael Raffl or Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. In addition, the Flyers have praised Laughton’s effort in the AHL, noting that he was used exclusively in a defensive role to better prepare him for that job at the NHL level, and he more than met expectations.
On BSH Radio Monday night, former Phantoms assistant coach Riley Cote echoed that sentiment, noting Laughton had struggled to adapt to a bottom-six role in his past NHL stints, but benefited from his time in the minors last season.
I think he just suffers from an identity crisis. I think he’s been an offensive guy his whole junior career, he’s been the “lean-on” guy, I think he had a hard time adjusting to a lesser role, [lines] three or four, you know what I mean? I think what he’s learned coming back down is that… he didn’t play on the power play, he didn’t play in offensive situations like that, so I think he’s able to absorb more of what he really, truly is.
It’s not a knock on his ability. But once you get to the NHL, there’s so many unbelievable talents, so you have to take a lesser role sometimes. I think for him, he’s a third line center probably max on a good team. But I think he has to buy into that role, because there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that role. I think he needs to be just a little bit more gritty, maybe cut his losses a little bit more. I think he hangs onto the puck too much and gets into trouble, turns pucks over, and so he doesn’t have to carry the puck as much.
I think he works hard enough, gets on the puck hard enough, I think he just… we talked about it all the time: “Simplify his game.” Be a hard worker, be a reliable centerman, win faceoffs, kill penalties. There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s some guys — and I think he had an identity crisis — it’s hard to swallow when you’re a 90-point guy, almost 100-point guy in juniors. You think you’re just gonna hop right into the NHL and be an 80-point guy in the NHL, and it’s just not realistic. Tagging him [like that] before he made the Flyers… well, he made the Flyers, came back to the Phantoms, made the Flyers again, came back to the Phantoms again, I think it really just crushed his confidence. I think he just needs to come back in training camp and earn a job and just mean business. I think he has to have that attitude.
Laughton is no longer waiver-exempt, meaning that if the Flyers want to send him back to Lehigh Valley next year, he will be required to pass through waivers, giving every team in the NHL a chance to scoop up his contract without providing any compensation to Philadelphia. As a result, it seems likely that Laughton will make the Flyers’ roster to begin the 2017-18 season, considering the fact that the organization deemed him valuable enough to protect in the expansion draft less than a month ago.
Still, that does not guarantee Laughton an everyday spot in the lineup. If he has a middling camp come September, it’s easy to see the 23-year old sitting in the press box and waiting for an injury to open a spot for him on the ice. On the other hand, if Laughton builds off his solid AHL year, it’s not impossible to envision him as the starting fourth line center to begin the 2017-18 season.
Laughton has shown flashes of usefulness at the NHL level (1.88 Points/60 at 5v5 during the 2015-16 season) and looked especially dangerous at wing late that year, but it seems like the organization views him primarily as a center at the moment. Right now, it looks like he’ll be in a battle with Jori Lehtera and Mike Vecchione for that 4C slot on opening night, and it will be up to Laughton to impress his coaches and win the job.
