The benefit would be him playing 20 minutes a night in all situations rather than 8 minutes a game and playing no special teams. I don't think their is any doubt he could hold his own in a limited role this year, but I think you seriously risk stunting his development by doing so.
There have been tons of guys over the years who we can look back at and say they were brought up way too early and it hurt their development. How many times have we said a player was in juniors too long and it hurt his development? Not many.
honestly id much rather see him playing lots of minutes and maybe send him back with a detailed training regimen but i think it would be really bad for him to stay up here. hes getting bodied off pucks and wont see the offensive side much at all. if hes going to be more than a depth player he needs more playing time. its a shame he cant play in the A
A game like today shows why he needs to go back. Not a lot of opportunities to develop a complete game. Guess we'll find out soon.
He's played well and shown flashes, but they should just sign someone like Moore or Arnott for the 3/4 c slot and send him back to develop all his game. They might not, and that's fine too, but I don't see the same argument for him that I did for Couts - who just flat out made the team and could not be sent down. No one will question sending Laughton down.
Send him back. With the late end of the season, not out of the question he comes back anyways. It would be like a post-trade deadline acquisition. Might even be before that if Oshawa is knocked out early. I agree with Larry that they should just try to sign Moore, or someone. Arnott went to the Rangers, and Elliotte Friedman said the Flyers had interest, so they're still poking around. I don't think he even played much center, I know he was on Schenn's wing by the end of the game.
My heart says no but my brain says yes. He's been really promising so far, but id hate to see his development stunted due to lack of opportunity. But then again, this team looks to be coming together, do we want to mess with it? And we may need him in the future. Hmmm. Tough decision, but I guess we'll see.
The team has been losing players from the first game. Losing another won't hurt, especially since they just got one back. Briere will likely end up back at center at some point.
McGinn looks like enough of an NHL player that we don't need him. Let Talbot or Wellwood handle the 4th line, no sense burning a year of his eligibility so that he can eat bottom line minutes in a lockout shortened season.
I'd send him down as well. He is clearly a top 6 type player and is too small right now to handle an intense fore checking role of a 3rd line or 4th line player right now.
I think the 5 games was a great "taste" of what the nhl is like and will serve him well as he goes back to junior.
Before tonight's game it was a toss up for me but now I'm leaning towards sending him back to the OHL. Barely even noticed him playing out there tonight. Not saying he played bad just that it seems like he barely got any minutes.
Well don't know what it means but Timmy p just posted that they wanted to see how/if briere played. Now that he did they can send Laughton back. Don't know if he goes back but Tim made it sound like he would.
If he's a NHL caliber player, sending him down to the OHL won't help him to develop. Ressources are way better in the NHL, the only real concern in the NHL for his development would be the higher injury risk imo. Icetime isn't really a concern, players have a lot of practices and that's where they develop the most. The question is : can he continue playing at this level for 43 games? It's tough to say. At least this year, it's not 82 games.
Before tonight's game it was a toss up for me but now I'm leaning towards sending him back to the OHL. Barely even noticed him playing out there tonight. Not saying he played bad just that it seems like he barely got any minutes.
14:57 TOI tonight. That's in the middle of the pack for the forwards tonight. I'd say it's pretty good for a rookie.
Bill Meltzer @billmeltzer
If Flyers didn't intend to keep Laughton, I think he'd have been scratch on wknd road trip, played Tue then been returned to OHL. We'll see
I put this in the game thread but I figured putting it here also would be useful.
Bill Meltzer @billmeltzer
If Flyers didn't intend to keep Laughton, I think he'd have been scratch on wknd road trip, played Tue then been returned to OHL. We'll see
I put this in the game thread but I figured putting it here also would be useful.
I was also wondering why they took him on the roadtrip. Maybe it was Briere's uncertainty, maybe they're keeping him, I hope they do the right thing.
I would send him back....like him and all but he's not like Couturier as someone mentioned. Don't want to see his development stunted like Zubrus although I think Laughton can handle the NHL but better for his development if he goes back IMO..we'll see
I think there is a reason why we went after Jason Arnott (damn Rags).
Just send the kid down and sign Langkow if you need a reliable vet presence.
Give him at least another half year to mature. Next year he should be the full-time 3rd line center.
The other option would be to play Talbot at center and wait for Ben Holmstrom to get healthy.
They have enough options:Schenn centering the third line, Talbot as a stop gap. I'm not convinced Langkov is an upgrade at all at this stage of his career. Holmstrom is pretty much done for the season and did not play a role in their plans movin forward as a organization anyway.
They have enough options:Schenn centering the third line, Talbot as a stop gap. I'm not convinced Langkov is an upgrade at all at this stage of his career. Holmstrom is pretty much done for the season and did not play a role in their plans movin forward as a organization anyway.
True.
My point is, don't waste one year of his elc yet. There are a few options.
Would like him to get at least 20 min. a night a PP-time.
With all the injuries, I think there's a stonger case for him to stay up over the long haul. He can be mixed and matched with the forward group in the bottom six and take time in the upper wings depending on match up and health/rust factor on Briere's return.
