Since he took over nearly two years ago as the Philadelphia Flyers’ general manager, Daniel Briere has methodically subtracted players that he believed didn’t fit in with what the team was building or the culture they were trying to instill. Kevin Hayes, Ivan Provorov, Tony DeAngelo, Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee — all were sent packing for various reasons.
But this one was different. This one really stung.
Dating to before last season’s NHL trade deadline, Briere said many times that he wasn’t actively shopping Scott Laughton, the Flyers’ emotional leader and cultural pillar. The 30-year-old forward, who spent his entire career in Philadelphia and was beloved by everyone in the organization and anyone who ever came into his orbit, always had more value to the Flyers than he did to other clubs. Consequently, the price was high — higher, in fact, than for what a player like Laughton actually provides on the ice, which, as a versatile, hard-nosed veteran, is not insignificant.
It’s what separates the Laughton deal from all of the others that Briere has executed to this point.
But Briere’s task is not to construct a dressing room full of guys who all want to go to dinner on the road together. More talent is needed, both in the short and the long term, if the goal of icing a perennial playoff team is going to ever be achieved.
Flyers understand risk in trading Laughton — ‘It’s a little scary’ — but it had to be done
