While everyone under the sun thought the Flyers would go defense with their first round pick in this summers 2012 NHL entry draft, they surprised everyone going with Center Scott Laughton from the Oshawa Generals. Laughtons NHL comparable? None other than Mike Richards. His biggest asset is his leadership and he is also praised for his willingness to block shots and as one of the hardest working players on the ice at any time.

Laughton can play the powerplay and penalty kill and will slot nice in the Flyers future line up at center behind Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier.

Scott is a feisty guy, willing to do anything to will his team to a victory.

While defense is certainly a need, there was not a guy at 20 that could step in the line-up right away and that may have changed the Flyers plans. Laughton is about 1-2 more OHL seasons before he makes the jump to the AHL/NHL, but he certainly will find himself a fixture in the Flyers line-up in the not to distant future!

My draft grade for this pick: B+ . Thought Flyers could’ve gone defense, but Laughton is an excellent selection and will fit perfectly in Philadelphia and in the line-up for years to come. Its worth noting he handled the extreme amount of boos from the Penguins crowd pretty well, a must for any new Flyer.

-Michael Joachim

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