The Philadelphia Flyers stand to lose a prospect in the coming days. No, we’re not talking about a first-round pick. But we are talking about a potential diamond in the rough, nonetheless.
On August 15, several NCAA players will see their rights expire as unsigned players. In particular, one of the players on the list is Owen McLaughlin. Unless Philly signs him soon, the left-shot center will become an unrestricted free agent.
The 23-year-old was a seventh-round pick in 2021. The Flyers selected him 206th overall, seeing him finish out his college career with Boston University.
McLaughlin was a solid prospect, racking up 16 goals and 54 points as a U-18 player. His failure to produce in the USHL and the US National Development Program in his draft year likely hurt his stock. Instead of going, say, in the second or third rounds, he fell all the way to the seventh.
Still, the Flyers saw something there. McLaughlin moved to the University of North Dakota, scoring 15 points in 37 games as a freshman. He later became essentially a point-per-game player the next two seasons, before transferring to Boston.
Unfortunately, McLaughlin’s production dipped in his final year. The dip notwithstanding, prompted the Flyers to sign McLaughlin to their ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals. In 13 games following the end of this year’s college season, McLaughlin scored three goals and eight points in 13 games. Those were encouraging numbers following a bit of a tough season.
Flyers could have a solid depth player in McLaughlin
To be fair, McLaughlin doesn’t project to be a high-end, top-line player. But he does have some bottom-six upside. At 6’0” and 174 pounds, he isn’t small, but not necessarily massive. So, there is potential there for him to be a decent depth forward.
Elite Prospects shows that McLaughlin will play for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms next season. That’s good, but he’ll need a contract. Unless he signs an AHL-level deal, the Flyers risk losing him for nothing.
In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising to see another organization take a flyer on him if he doesn’t sign. McLaughlin doesn’t look like a star now. But we’ve seen players sort of slip through the cracks and then emerge with other teams as solid NHLers.
That’s why the Flyers would do well to keep him in the organization. If the team feels he isn’t necessarily worthy of an entry-level deal, at least signing him to the AHL next season would be a step in the right direction.
Considering the need the Flyers have for depth down the middle, a 23-year-old former NCAA player could be closer to the NHL than other prospects in the system.
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