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Meltzer's Musings: Newbury, Laughton, Holding the Lines, Scud Missiles

October 4, 2013, 1:03 AM ET [364 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
FRIDAY QUICK HITS

* The Flyers made a somewhat surprising roster move on Thursday, returning 2012 first-round pick Scott Laughton to the OHL's Oshawa Generals one night after he was a healthy scratch on opening night. In his place, the club recalled veteran pro Kris Newbury from the Phantoms.

Laughton was stuck in a tough position this year. He has little to gain from a fourth season in the OHL, where he averaged 1.14 points per game last season while continuing to be one of the junior circuit's more adept defensive centers. At the same time, barring an injury to one of the Flyers' top three NHL-level centers, Laughton's ice time was going to be limited for him if he played in the NHL through his allotted nine-game trial and beyond.

Ideally, Laughton would be allowed to play in the AHL this season; which is probably the most appropriate level of competition for him at this point of his development. Unfortunately, as a CHL-affiliated player, he is not eligible for the American League this season.

Flyers captain Claude Giroux can somewhat relate to what Laughton is going through. As the team's first-round pick in 2006 and coming off a spectacular season for the QMJHL's Gatineau Olympiques in 2007-08 (106 points in 55 regular season games, followed by a mind-boggling 51 points in 19 playoff games), Giroux was expected to make the Flyers' NHL roster out of its 2008 training camp. Unfortunately, he had a poor preseason and wound up being demoted to the Phantoms for the first few months of the campaign before coming up to the Flyers for good.

I asked Giroux at practice today how he dealt with the initial disappointment of not making the NHL roster after he initially appeared to have a spot locked up. Giroux admitted that it stung a bit at first but ended up being something that made him a better -- and more prepared -- NHL player in the long run.

"When I look back at it now, it was the best thing for me," Giroux said. "We had John Paddock as coach, and I was playing about 25 minutes a game. It was a good learning experience."

Once he gets over the disappointment, Laughton can set his sights on goals like continuing to add muscle to his frame, earning a spot on Team Canada at the 2014 World Junior Championships and growing his offensive game even further.

Laughton had a passable but unspectacular camp for the Flyers this September. He actually played better in the abbreviated post-lockout camp in January when he was in midseason form from the OHL campaign. This time around, he didn't look out place or overwhelmed, but he also didn't do much that was exceptional.

“At the end of the day, you need to justify the amount of minutes you think he’s going to get and weigh it against the long-term projection of where you see him down the road, and it just didn’t add up for us,” said Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren.

Laughton's return to the OHL guarantees that his NHL entry-level contract will slide another season, officially beginning in the 2014-15 season. It also opens up a spot on the Flyers' reserve list should they want or need to add a player to the roster later in the season.

As for Newbury, he is one of those players who plays different roles during his stints in the AHL than he does while in the NHL. At the AHL level, he's a solid scorer as well as an agitator who is not shy about dropping the gloves. Prior to learning of his recall to the Flyers, Newbury was slated to center the Phantoms' top line this season, flanked by Jason Akeson and Tye McGinn.

At the NHL level, Newbury is generally a fourth line player. His role is to stir the pot and fight a bit, although he is too small (5-foot-11, 213 pounds) to go toe-to-toe with the league's heavyweights. As a frame of reference, I'd say he's somewhat akin to Zac Rinaldo and ex-Flyer Arron Asham in his NHL role. Newbury is best suited to fighting people like the comparably sized Asham.

The 31-year-old Newbury has the versatility to play either center (his natural position) or wing as needed. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette indicated after practice on Thursday that the player's versatility -- potentially even including the ability to fill-in on one of the top three lines for a couple games -- was one of his main assets.


* At Thursday's practice, the Flyers stayed with the line combinations that they featured for most of the first two periods of the opening night game against Toronto. That included Brayden Schenn on the top line, Jakub Voracek on the third line with Sean Couturier, and Matt Read on the Vincent Lecavalier line.

After Wednesday's game, Laviolette said the lineup switches were done in order to try to spread the wealth a bit offensively. Both he and Voracek insist the Czech forward is feeling fine physically, and the early line juggling had nothing to with the lower back injury that knocked Voracek out of a preseason game last Tuesday for precautionary reasons.


* One area where Laviolette would like to see his team bear down a little more is in getting shot attempts on the net. Missed shots were an issue in practice and during the preseason, and also carried over into opening night.

"Even at practice here, we're firing Scud missiles from the slot or coming off the rush, and they're smashing off the glass," said Laviolette. "I think if we can put it between the red bars somewhere, not only will it be a chance for it to go in the net, but there might be a second or third opportunity that follows."

* Flyers enforcer Jay Rosehill was still an unhappy man about the cross-check he took up high from Toronto's Colton Orr in the third period of Wedesday's game. He said that Orr would not fight him when he had the chance, and choose instead later in the game to try a head-hunting cheapshot that, by sheer luck, caught him in the shoulder and avoided connecting with his jaw and teeth. Orr got a two-minute penalty on the play.

* The Flyers will hold a short practice on Friday morning before leaving for Montreal. The game will mark the first game Danny Briere will play against his former teammates since being bought out by the Flyers in the offseason.


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POST-PRACTICE VIDEO

Claude Giroux is asked about playing against Danny Briere




Peter Laviolette discusses Scott Laughton




Kris Newbury talks about his utility-player/agitator role in the Flyers lineup



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