Philadelphia Flyers: 5 Trade Packages for Scott Laughton

The Philadelphia Flyers’ firesale continues, but this time trade rumors have started to swirl around veteran forward Scott Laughton. 

Before puck drop on Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported on the broadcast that Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Laughton was a popular name this week at the NHL combine. Friedman added that Daniel Briere and the Flyers would likely prefer to keep Laughton around as a mentor for their up-and-coming group of players, but would also feel obligated to sell on the 29 year old if the right offer is made to them.

Scott Laughton is an attractive piece to teams for a variety of reasons. Chief among those is Laughton’s versatility as a player – he’s played all three forward positions for the Philadelphia Flyers. In addition, Laughton has term on his contract. He’s entering the third year of the five-year, $15 million contract he signed prior to the 2021-2022 season. Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period added that the Flyers have already rejected late first-round picks in offers for Laughton, which suggests that the Flyers are looking to move up further into the first round, even without a second-round pick.

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ new President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas has an interesting challenge that lies ahead of him. The Penguins still have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Jake Guentzel, but the Penguins’ star trio is closer to the end of their careers than the beginning, and Guentzel is one year from unrestricted free agency. Ideally, Dubas keeps the Penguins in playoff contention whilst building towards the future, something ex-GM Ron Hextall didn’t come close to achieving. After all, the Penguins would have taken the Florida Panthers’ playoff spot had they not sensationally choked against two of the very worst teams in the entire NHL in their last two games of the year. That’s not something a guy like Sidney Crosby would forget about heading into next season.

With the 14th overall pick, the Philadelphia Flyers vault into pole position to draft a slider, like Zach Benson, or another lower-end top-tier talent, to compliment their choice at pick seven. Scott Laughton is a great player, but he’s no superstar either. Using Laughton to move up eight spots in a draft like this is a small price to pay for a potential game-changer. On the flip side, Kyle Dubas gets a versatile veteran forward at a team-friendly price without compromising the Pittsburgh Penguins’ future. They desperately need to start preparing for life after Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.

Much like the Philadelphia Flyers, it seems like the Ottawa Senators mean business this offseason, too. After being linked or named fits for Flyers like Kevin Hayes and Carter Hart, why not go for the hat-trick? Right now, the Ottawa Senators are exploring trade options for one of their own players – Alex DeBrincat – in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. DeBrincat is definitely leaving Ottawa, and after just one 61-point season, the Senators need to maximize their return on the embattled sniper.

At the end of the day, the Ottawa Senators are in a position to win now. But, to do so, they need to become less rough around the edges. Their goaltending was really bad, they didn’t have the appropriate depth to fill in for Josh Norris when he was hurt, and they had very limited depth scoring in general. To check those boxes, the Senators reunite Claude Giroux with some of his buddies from Philadelphia.

The Flyers gain a young star talent whom the Senators are looking to sell low on, and add two solid young prospects to help fill out the bottom of their roster. The biggest win for the Flyers however, is holding on to both of their first rounders here. The Senators do not have a first-round pick in either of the next two drafts, but with Drake Batherson, Brady Tkachuk, and Tim Stutzle all 25 or younger, that’s not a major concern for them right now. The buyouts of Bobby Ryan and Matt Murray will be off the Senators’ books after this year, so they’ll have even more money to play with later on. It’s unclear whether or not Alex DeBrincat would be willing to come play in Philly, which this entire trade hinges on, but if he is, there’s no way Daniel Briere could say no to this.

Despite being a young team with weak goaltending and a shallower roster, the Buffalo Sabres finished just (just) outside of a playoff spot. The Florida Panthers and New York Islanders finished with 92 and 93 points, respectively, and the Sabres missed out on a playoff spot with 91. With Devon Levi now in the fold and with youngsters like Jack Quinn, J.J. Peterka, Casey Mittelstadt, and Dylan Cozens all taking steps forward, the Buffalo Sabres are in a position to make some serious noise in 2023. However, Ilya Lyubushkin, Kyle Okposo, Jeff Skinner, and Zemgus Girgensons are the only skaters they had over the age of 28. Girgensons is hitting unrestricted free agency, so the Sabres might feel inclined to upgrade and add a veteran from elsewhere.

The Buffalo Sabres haven’t made the playoffs since the 2010-11 season, and even after narrowly missing the playoffs this year, the Sabres have a roster built for long-term, sustained success. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen isn’t an NHL starter, but he doesn’t have to be in Philadelphia. Carter Hart gives the Sabres a stable and reliable goalie with a little more seasoning to pair with Devon Levi. Jiri Kulich is a promising Czech forward drafted 28th overall in the 2022 draft, and the Flyers also manage to add another first-round selection in the 2023 draft.

The price might seem steep for the Sabres, but they still have players like Matthew Savoie, Noah Ostlund, Prokhor Poltapov, and Isak Rosen in their pipeline that they can add to their roster in the near future, making the 13th overall pick expendable and available for Daniel Briere to negotiate for. As seen with Cal Petersen, stable and consistent goaltending is hard to come by in the NHL, and Briere knows what he has in Carter Hart. Scott Laughton gives the Sabres a veteran left wing who is positionally flexible, fundamentally sound, and a hard worker as well as an adequate point producer. Laughton would slot right into the Sabres’ top-nine and bump the ineffective Jordan Greenway down to the fourth line. This is a move that would benefit both teams in the current contexts of their situations.

Much like the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Nashville Predators also narrowly missed out on the playoffs – the Winnipeg Jets had 95 points and the Preds finished with 92. Like the Jets, the Predators have a rockstar goalie who was let down by his coach and his teammates. Veteran Predators stars like Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene, Roman Josi, Juuse Saros, and Filip Forsberg are all going to be coming out of their athletic primes, so it would be wise for the Predators to upgrade in a weak Western Conference without compromising their future endeavors.

The 24th overall pick might not be as high of a pick as Daniel Briere might be hoping to get in exchange for Scott Laughton, but it’s fair value at the end of the day. Laughton is a decent player who offers a lot, but he’s just not a star. The 2022-23 season was the only such season in which Laughton surpassed 40 points. Laughton’s previous career-high was just 32, back in the 2018-19 season. The Nashville Predators just poached their new head coach Andrew Brunette from the New Jersey Devils, and Brunette’s first order of business should be asking Barry Trotz for an upgrade for his third line. Center Tommy Novak had a breakout season with 43 points in just 51 games, but teammates Yakov Trenin and Colton Sissons combined for just 54 in 77 and 82 games played, respectively.

The Predators’ top-six appears set with Forsberg, Johansen, Duchene, and the likes of breakout phenoms Cody Glass, Luke Evangelista, and Phil Tomasino, but the rest of their forward group needs a facelift. After giving away former first-round pick Eeli Tolvanen on waivers, the Predators can’t afford anymore slip-ups as they seek to remain in playoff contention. It would be wise for the Preds to target a safe bet like the Philadelphia Flyers’ Scott Laughton.