The Flyers made some big moves at the trade deadline, sending Andrei Kuzmenko to the Los Angeles Kings and Scott Laughton to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both made their debuts for their new teams this past weekend.
It's going to take some time to see how both fit in within their new organizations. Erik Johnson was also sent to the Colorado Avalanche, but he is unlikely to be in the lineup often, similar to his role with the Flyers. But we can take a look at how Laughton and Kuzmenko did in their first game with the Leafs and Kings respectively.
Scott Laughton
Without wasting any time, Scott Laughton flew out to Denver, CO for his inaugural game with the Toronto Maple Leafs. As a native of Oakville, Ontario, one can only imagine that the first game as a Maple Leaf was truly bittersweet, especially given the fact that he was wearing #24 as opposed to his usual #21 (TOR has previously retired #21 in honor of the late Borje Salming). However, the blue and white lost an entertaining game to the Colorado Avalanche on March 8th by a final score of 7-4.
Laughton's metrics weren't immensely impressive, as he ended the game with 11:54 of ice time and a -2 rating. Although he did impress in the face-off dot, winning 4/7 while centering Max Domi and Bobby McMann.
Andrei Kuzmenko
As a shock to some, Danny Briere was able to flip Andrei Kuzmenko into a future asset after he was acquired by Philly as a "salary dump" by the Calgary Flames. "Kuzy" made his Los Angeles Kings debut against the St. Louis Blues skating alongside Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe on March 8th. The Kings won 2-1 in overtime and Kuzmenko ended the game with five shot attempts,16:01 TOI, and a 0 +/- rating.
Given how beloved Laughton was as a long-time Flyer (661 games/12 years) one can assume most if not all of the Flyers fanbase wishes him a great deal of success with his future team. On the other hand, #96 Andrei Kuzmenko was only a Flyer for seven games, but did make his mark with five points (2 G, 3 A) while bringing consistent energy on the Flyers' horrendous power play. Time will only tell how the two will fare for the remainder of the year, as only six weeks are remaining in what has surely been an entertaining 2024-2025 NHL regular season.