Scott Laughton signs long term in Philadelphia, avoiding trade

Scratch Scott Laughton off the trade bait board.

The Philadelphia Flyers have signed Laughton to a five-year contract extension worth $15 million, eliminating the possibility of moving the depth forward to a contender before Monday's trade deadline.

Laughton earns a $700K annual raise on his current $2.3 million salary with the deal.

A 2012 first-round selection of the Flyers, Laughton has had another positive season in terms of offering depth scoring. He's got seven goals and 17 points in 38 games for the Flyers, who are hanging on in the postseason chase in the NHL's East Division.

The signing could alter plans for teams with a firmer grip on a second-season seed. It seems Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher was mulling trade possibilities for the industrious forward while working on an extension in the eleventh hour of a somewhat arbitrary deadline to broker a deal.

The $3 million cap hit seems highly reasonable from a Philadelphia perspective, but the term is quite long for a player with a middle-six ceiling. That said, Laughton is only 26 years old and should be able to meet his value for the large majority of the deal.

Laughton is having one of his better impact seasons, improving on even-strength metrics that dipped below the team standard in the last few seasons.

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