Scott Laughton (thread originated in 2013)

[deadhead]

Last year he was pretty excellent at centre tbh. He is certainly better than Lehtera and very likely Weal at C as well.

I mean, we all knew from 2015-16 when he played mainly wing that he was good enough offensively for the NHL. Does not have high end offensive IQ but a great shot, solid passer and great skater. If he plays 3rd line minutes without PP time he will get ~25-30 points for sure. Which is good production.

Disagree with that, same way I think it's overused for most players, see TK.
There's three aspects to passing:
1) just being able to pass accurately, some guys (Simmonds, Raffl) are erratic passers, for example guys ice the puck because they miss open targets down ice. Or they throw the puck into a teammate's skates instead of where they can put a stick on it.
2) being able to pass in open ice while skating fast, big windows, pass to what you see, that's what Laughton and TK can do.
3) pass through small windows and hit small targets (a stick not a player), Giroux is maybe the best in the league, Voracek is good on the PP but for some reason not so good at ES, Vorobyev shows great promise. That's an innate skill, it's about accuracy, vision and anticipation.

Laughton to me looks like a better passer as a LW, I think like an option QB (you probably won't get that reference) he's only looking at "half the ice" so he doesn't have to process as much information and can be more decisive.

Same on defense, he wasn't that good last year, especially without Raffl (horrible second half +/- was probably more than bad luck), and it showed in his own D-zone. I think Rubtsov would be the perfect center for him, the way Couts covered for Schenn and now Giroux, letting him focus on the forecheck, knowing his center has his back (Lehtera is smart enough, just not fast enough), and having fewer responsibilities on the back check.

 

[Appleyard]

Disagree with that, same way I think it's overused for most players, see TK.
There's three aspects to passing:
1) just being able to pass accurately, some guys (Simmonds, Raffl) are erratic passers, for example guys ice the puck because they miss open targets down ice. Or they throw the puck into a teammate's skates instead of where they can put a stick on it.
2) being able to pass in open ice while skating fast, big windows, pass to what you see, that's what Laughton and TK can do.
3) pass through small windows and hit small targets (a stick not a player), Giroux is maybe the best in the league, Voracek is good on the PP but for some reason not so good at ES, Vorobyev shows great promise. That's an innate skill, it's about accuracy, vision and anticipation.

Laughton to me looks like a better passer as a LW, I think like an option QB (you probably won't get that reference) he's only looking at "half the ice" so he doesn't have to process as much information and can be more decisive.

Same on defense, he wasn't that good last year, especially without Raffl (horrible second half +/- was probably more than bad luck), and it showed in his own D-zone. I think Rubtsov would be the perfect center for him, the way Couts covered for Schenn and now Giroux, letting him focus on the forecheck, knowing his center has his back (Lehtera is smart enough, just not fast enough), and having fewer responsibilities on the back check.

I mean, he is not Giroux or Voracek... and he is a way better shooter than passer, he is not even Lindblom/Vorobyev level as a passer. But he knows his skillset and rarely gives stupid passes that go the other way. He does not try passes he knows he cannot make.

I get the reference... my Dad won a British championship as a linebacker and had friends play in NFL europe... plus my current housemate used to be an Austrian international WR who played high school football in the US. I actually grew up more on football than hockey, but just never enjoyed it as much.

And we already went over the Laughton without Raffl thing a few weeks ago... his ExGA was exceptional with and without Raffl, looking at defensive metrics alone he was one of the better centres in the league defensively. His backchecking was great. (and this is from someone who 18 months ago would have laughed at anyone calling Laughton good defensively...)

 

[Danko]

He looks like a serial killer, but the kid was one of our best players in last years playoffs and his play this year has been a huge plus.

 

[Curufinwe]

He's already an NHL 4th liner at age 21 with a good chance at being a 3rd liner as he gets more experience. That's not a bust for a late first round pick.

Not a bust.

 

[deadhead]

And we already went over the Laughton without Raffl thing a few weeks ago... his ExGA was exceptional with and without Raffl, looking at defensive metrics alone he was one of the better centres in the league defensively. His backchecking was great. (and this is from someone who 18 months ago would have laughed at anyone calling Laughton good defensively...)

This is the case where the eyeball disagrees with the stats, while he was good at controlling play on the forecheck, which I think explains the stats, he looked lost in the D-zone ("lost in the ozone again") at times, unsure of where he was supposed to be.

Watching in both the playoffs last year and this year at LW, Laughton just looks more confident and decisive, like he has less responsibility on his shoulders, fewer reads to make and can just skate, shoot and chase the puck, all three of which he does at an above average level.

With Rubtsov on the verge, and Frost scheduled to arrive soon (April?, next season?), I think they can leave Laughton at LW.
Problem may soon be an excess of LWs (with Farabee and Ratcliffe on the horizon in 2020-21), but that's a good problem.
Maybe put a package together for a young D-man or RW.

 

[Rebels57]

No worries. He'll be bought out this summer.

@Curufinwe this was when I still had faith in Hexy lol

 

[Jtown]

Laughton is the guy that is going to replace Raffl's role once Raffl leaves. He can play up a line , down a line, pk and score . Those guys are invaluable. when raffl walks after this year , allocate his money towards resigning Laughton. That would be good cap management.