Philadelphia Flyers: It's Time To Start Thinking Laughton Trade

The Philadelphia Flyers have been in a rebuild for a number of years now and even though John Tortorella is the coach and he gets his team to play hard, there is still a way to go.

The Flyers are last in the NHL through 13 games with just nine points and have to finally make the decision to trade Scott Laughton this season. The rumors have been surrounding him for multiple years now and he's had two of his most impressive campaigns in the past two seasons.

Laughton can play a strong two-way game, produce offensively, play in any situation, and play anywhere that's needed. He's done it all with the Flyers, the team that drafted him all the way back in 2012. He finally earned Selke Trophy votes last season despite the style of game he's played for years.

Over the past two seasons, Laughton has scored 31 goals and 82 points in 160 to go along with 113 blocked shots and 311 hits. He has produced six goals and 14 points on the power play and five goals and 15 points on the penalty kill in those previous two seasons as well.

The Flyers don't look like they'll be anywhere close to competing this season and have to start getting what they can for certain players. Laughton is 30 years old now and not getting any younger. He has one more year after this one left on his contract at $3 million AAV. With the cap going up and up, that is a great deal for what he brings to the table.

Any contender could use the versatile veteran for two playoff runs and it will up the return for the Flyers by trading him this season because of that. The longer Philadelphia waits, the more of a chance Laughton's play may fall off a bit on a bad team with lots of competition for playing time.

The Flyers were asking too much in return last season when there were inquisitions about Laughton. They have to get realistic as it's not realistic to think Philadelphia is going to get into the playoffs, especially not with how inexperienced they are as a team and the position the team is in.