Scott Laughton Looks Ready for Full-Time Role with Flyers

By Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 

In the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the Flyers used the 20th overall selection on Scott Laughton, a two-way center from the Oshawa Generals. Laughton's pro comparison was Mike Richards, a former Flyers captain and perennial Selke candidate at that time in the NHL.

Now five years after his draft year, Laughton is still looking to earn a role on the NHL roster — a much longer road to the NHL than is anticipated for first-round prospects. With only a handful of cuts remaining before the Flyers set the opening night roster, Laughton has taken huge steps in starting the season in the NHL again.

Laughton has spent the last three seasons bouncing between the Flyers roster and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. The expectations of Laughton ever being a game-changing talent have always been tempered, but the prospect did display great two-way ability in the OHL. 

With the Oshawa Generals, Laughton increased his point total in each season he played while never posting a negative plus-minus rating. In 230 games in the OHL, Laughton scored 96 goals and 219 points, including 87 points in 54 games during his final season. To go with his point production, Laughton was also plus-47 for his career in Oshawa. 

At the end of his second full professional season, Laughton suffered a scary injury when he went hard into the boards and laid motionless on the ice for the moments after the collision. He was stretchered off of the ice, and began the following season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms after missing out on making the team out of camp.

This twist of fate has proved to be a blessing in disguise for Laughton, as his season last year in Lehigh Valley allowed to build up his identity and create value for himself by becoming one of the best penalty killers on the Phantoms. 

In 60 games last season, Laughton scored 19 goals and 40 points with a plus-17 rating. The former first round pick finally had a consistent season that will allow him to earn his next shot with the Flyers.

The improvements that Laughton showed last season in Lehigh Valley were enough to earn him a two-year contract to remain a part of the Flyers organization. More importantly, the Flyers opted to protect Laughton from expansion, further securing a part of his future with the Flyers. 

With Pierre-Edouard Bellemare now a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, the Flyers have a big hole to fill since losing one of their top and more reliable penalty killers. Laughton prides himself on a two-way game and his success as a penalty killer in the AHL make him the perfect candidate to take over in the role as fourth-line center and penalty killer. 

General manager Ron Hextall even commented on Laughton during Tuesday night's broadcast of the team's preseason game against the New York Rangers — a game in which Laughton scored a goal. Hextall was asked about Laughton's long road to the NHL to which Hextall said, "Quite honestly I was a little upset with Scotty there for a bit, but right now I couldn't be prouder of him."

The Flyers do get a bit of a boost with Laughton over Bellemare since Laughton is a player who is far more offensively advanced than Bellemare. Laughton should thrive as a fourth-line center, and he should be able to chip in more offensively than the former alternate captain ever could. 

Laughton got lost in the shuffle more than any of the team's other prospects. Excitement still surrounds Sam Morin and Travis Sanheim despite also taking a longer road to the NHL. Ivan Provorov, Nolan Patrick and Travis Konecny are all considered key building blocks for the team's future, and German Rubtsov – a very similar player to Laughton — has not been in the system long enough to become underhyped. 

While we constantly got updates on how Provorov, Sanheim, and Konecny performed before reaching the Flyers, the same never happened with Scott Laughton.

Laughton quietly produced strong campaigns in the OHL and AHL while he matured his game. Now he appears to have earned a slot on the opening night roster. 

It will again be up to Laughton to remain in the NHL this season, but his long journey has equipped him with the proper tools to carve out a role with the Flyers, potentially for good.