Emotional Deadline Day Another Step Forward for Flyers

There was nothing new about Scott Laughton’s name being in trade rumors, so much so that he had a little fun with this year’s trade rumor. The “Last Supper” photo that Laughton posted on social media a week before Friday’s trade deadline may have been done in jest, but highlighted the reality of the situation.

When you’re a team in the position that the Flyers are in, still rebuilding, still finding their way, you can hit a crossroads with players who have been there for the lean years. Laughton certainly fit the bill. He had grown to become an NHL regular and a leader in the locker room. You just got the sense from that photo that even Laughton himself knew this time may be different.

Sure enough, on Friday afternoon, Laughton’s 12-year career with the Flyers was over. He was off to Toronto, his hometown, in what easily was the primary move of the deadline.

For GM Danny Briere, still a player on the Flyers roster when Laughton debuted, it was an emotional day.

“Trading Scott Laughton was one of the most difficult things I probably have ever had to do as a GM,” Briere said. “What he means to the Flyers. He’s always been here, the type of person he is, the teammate that he is. It was tough to let him go but you know, the return was amazing, and on top of it, giving him the chance to go play for his hometown team, I think it's pretty cool.”

The “amazing” return, as Briere put it, was the Flyers' desired asking price for Laughton. They got the first-round pick they were after, a 2027 conditional pick that is top-10 protected. They also added a 21-year-old forward prospect in Nikita Grebenkin.

That was Briere’s second trade of deadline day. His first was one that even he wasn’t expecting to make. Andrei Kuzmenko, acquired in the early-morning hours of Jan. 31, was flipped to the Los Angeles Kings along with a 2025 seventh-round pick for a 2027 third-round pick.

Then, just under the wire of the deadline, the Flyers made another move. It was another former teammate of Briere’s in Erik Johnson, getting the chance to return to Colorado and go for one more Stanley Cup. The deal was a one-for-one that sent Givani Smith back to the Flyers, so nothing of great significance, but a service to a veteran who has been a great teammate since arriving in Philadelphia at last year’s deadline.

By flipping Kuzmenko, who was acquired in the trade that sent Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost to Calgary, the Flyers officially moved five players off the roster leading up to the deadline. They traded Farabee and Frost, Kuzmenko, Laughton, and Johnson, along with a 2025 fourth-round pick, 2027 sixth-round pick, and 2025 seventh-round pick to get back Jakob Pelletier, Grebenkin, Smith, a 2027 conditional first-round pick, a 2025 second-round pick, a 2027 third-round pick, and a 2028 seventh-round pick.

That’s a lot of assets, both given and received.

What it does is further the Flyers plan for the rebuild. This offseason is one of the most critical. The Flyers now have seven picks in the first two rounds of the 2025 NHL Draft. They have 10 picks total in the 2025 Draft, to go with six picks in the 2026 NHL Draft and eight picks in the 2027 NHL Draft. Briere even admitted that the 2027 first acquired for Laughton may not even be one that they make, but one that is used at the right time to make another acquisition. 

“At some point too, because there's no guarantee that [the 2027] first-round pick we will be picking. At some point, we hope to be one of those teams on the other side of the fence that are looking to acquire players,” Briere said. “Like you mentioned having three already this year, still our own next year, we felt for us, that wasn't a problem to push it out that way. Those first-round picks, you saw today, you see on draft day, they're so valuable. To me, it doesn't really matter even if it's pushed out a year or two. They're still very valuable and a huge asset to have moving forward.”

It was another day of making subtractions to the roster and setting the stage for building the long-term future. And as much as the years keep piling up where the Flyers are not in the playoff hunt, not reaching the finish line of this ongoing process, it took another step in the right direction on Friday.

There was reason to have doubts. The Flyers clearly valued Laughton’s intangibles and the off-ice qualities he brings to a team’s culture. Faced with this decision once before, they re-signed Laughton rather than move him.

This time, Laughton was on the move. And making that decision, that commitment to make decisions for the better of the team, could be monumental for the Flyers’ rebuild. 

Like most of their previous trades, the real impact of any move the Flyers make is to come in the offseason. It’s how they utilize their draft picks, the capital that they have accrued over the last couple of seasons. 

“What I would say is that we're in a really good spot. It's probably progressing a little quicker than I even expected,” Briere said. “Some of our young guys are stepping up. You look at the play of [Matvei] Michkov and of [Noah] Cates’ line. And I know [Sam] Ersson had a bad game against Calgary, but he's taken a step since Christmas. So, there's a lot of positives. 

“We're definitely going to be near the top of the youngest groups in the NHL. So, to me, that's exciting. We're going into the offseason with seven picks in the top 50 at this point or right around there. That's exciting. And that group, we've said, there's three groups of draft. Starting with Michkov’s draft, [Jett] Luchenko, and then this year's draft, those guys are going to be the bulk of our core players, we hope in five years from now. So, we're going in the right direction. 

“The way I see it, we're just going to keep getting better and better. It's not going to happen overnight. And that's, that's probably the toughest part, is the patience needed to get there. But I'm really excited about the way things are evolving.”

The toughest part. A lot of that was present on Friday. Trading away a quality veteran. Acquiring draft capital with an eye on the future. Selling on another season. On the surface, it’s all disappointing.

Just like when Claude Giroux was traded three seasons ago – the Flyers getting a fairly similar return as they did for Laughton – it’s closing the door on another chapter, one that ultimately didn’t prove to become as fruitful as hoped.

But the plan is even further in place. Moving five players ahead of this deadline was above and beyond some of the selling the team has done in the past. It was more of a commitment to building through draft capital, building through development, and moving on when the time is right to make sure the right players are in place when it’s go time.

Go time is coming soon. It may be tough to see it at present. But Briere and company have their ammunition, and plenty of it, ready to go.

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.