Philadelphia Flyers: Could Tanner Laczynski be a diamond in the rough?
Tanner Laczynski could be an underrated player for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Do the Philadelphia Flyers have a “diamond in the rough” in Tanner Laczynski? A recent article put out by Dobber Prospects talks about NHL prospects who’ve possibly not gotten enough attention while coming through the ranks. Upon reading the article I was a bit surprised to see a familiar name mentioned.
In the article written by Braydon Olafson, Brayden describes Laczynski as “a strong and skillful forward who brings plenty of two-way aptitudes to the Flyers depth”. Olafson would go on to determine that Laczynski is in fact under-hyped.
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Laczynski was drafted by the Flyers at 19 years old in the sixth round in the 2016 NHL Draft and would go on to play his next four years at Ohio State where he would pile up 143 points in 138 games, ranking 22nd (tied) in school history in points.
Tanner’s 1.04 career points per game ranked fifth among all 2019-20 NCAA skaters and ranked second among 2019-20 seniors as he became just the third Buckeye since 2000 to record over a point per game for his career.
Proving his two-way pedigree Laczynski finished his collegiate career with a +49, the best rating in school history since 2000. Tanner also had a pension for scoring the big goal as he’s tied for second all time in OSU history with 13 career game winning goals.
On March 23 2020, Laczynski signed his ELC with the Flyers and will either begin next season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms or the Reading Royals and at 23 years old doesn’t need time to develop physically as he stands 6’1 and weighs 190lbs so he’s ready to play in the pros.
Assuming he does end up on the Phantoms roster, Laczynski would join fellow 2016 NHL Draft picks German Rubstov (1st round), Pascal Laberge (2nd round), Wade Allison (3rd round) who also signed his ELC in the spring, Carsen Twarynski (3rd round), Connor Bunnaman (4th round), and Linus Hogberg (5th round) who recently signed his ELC as well.
On the NHL roster there could be positions available in the bottom six for the Flyers and if Laczynski has a strong camp, could very well make the team. With the Flyers faced with signing key players this off-season, GM Chuck Fletcher may have to make some tough decisions.
With four bottom six forwards set to become free agents in Tyler Pitlick, Nate Thompson, and Derek Grant as UFA’s and Nic Aube-Kubel an RFA, it may behoove Fletcher to go with some younger depth players this season.
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Laczynski would seemingly fit the bill as a player who could potentially step in right away as he has the size and the ever so important two-way game to hold down a spot at the pro-level but he will also be faced with some stiff competition as the Philadelphia Flyers have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL.