Flyers keep Scott Laughton, demote Andrew MacDonald

AFTER ABOUT 30 minutes of conditioning and shooting drills during the Flyers' practice session yesterday, it all started to sink in for Scott Laughton.

Someone was missing, which meant Laughton, a 21-year-old center, had made the final cut.

"Hard work's just begun and I'm excited for the opportunity," said Laughton, who was drafted 20th overall by the Flyers in 2012. "Definitely when I was 18, starting those five games in the lockout year, I don't think I took them for granted, but definitely know how hard it is to make the league and to stay there too."

The Flyers finalized their 23-man, Opening Night roster yesterday, placing veteran defenseman Andrew MacDonald on waivers. MacDonald, 29, has five years left on a six-year, $30 million contract signed under former general manager Paul Holmgren.

The move would put the Flyers roughly $670,000 under the $71.4 million salary cap if MacDonald clears waivers and goes to the Phantoms, the Flyers' AHL affiliate. MacDonald would earn his full salary, with the Flyers taking a cap hit of $4,000,050 and getting $950,000 in cap relief.

MacDonald, who was acquired from the New York Islanders in March 2014 for second- and third-round draft picks, led the NHL with 242 blocked shots in 2013-14. Last season, he recorded only 12 points in 58 games.

"Well, it's disappointing, I guess," general manager Ron Hextall said of waiving MacDonald. "It's just more we're caught in a tough place here and we had to make a tough decision putting our best team on the ice and creating a roster spot and some cap space, so it was a tough decision.

"Obviously, we know Mac's a good NHL player and . . . is it what we wanted to do? No. If we could have avoided it, we would have."

Despite the demotion, Hextall didn't rule out the possibility of MacDonald's return to the team in the future.

"I'm convinced at some point he'll be back here and be a productive player for us," Hextall said. "The dollars that everybody has, you have to balance your cap and everything else, and sometimes you need to make decisions like this one."

Laughton is joined by defensemen Luke Schenn and Brandon Manning in making the final cut, leaving the Flyers with 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies heading into Thursday's Opening Night matchup at the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Hextall and coach Dave Hakstol opted to keep Schenn, who will earn $3.6 million in the final year of his deal, to be the team's seventh defenseman; and a potential trade chip.

Schenn said he was surprised to see MacDonald go, and implied that the move had more to do with dollar signs than anything else.

"I don't think anyone saw that coming," Schenn said. "Sometimes things can be perceived in three different views just because of a contract, but I think he actually is a real solid, two-way defenseman and underrated player.

"He moves the puck well, he's solid defensively and a great teammate, so, who knows? Maybe he'll be back sooner than later. Maybe he'll be playing. We don't know the future. All we know is that he was really respected by his teammates and he's definitely an NHL player."

Laughton played 39 games with the Phantoms last season, having been demoted from the Flyers in mid-February after suffering a concussion. He said he learned a lot from his time in the AHL and, as a result, is much improved coming into this season.

After tallying six points in 31 games for the Flyers last year, Laughton finished out his 2014-15 campaign by notching 27 points in 39 games with the Phantoms.

"I think a lot of it's comfort level with the guys and confidence," Laughton said of his improvement. "To be able to play with them for half the year last year and be familiar with them, I think that takes a lot and I'm just comfortable with the puck and things like that.

"I think I worked a lot on my skating this summer and conditioning; that's probably what took me to the next level."

In five games of preseason action, Laughton recorded two assists and posted a 46 percent success rate on faceoff attempts.

"I think some of it is in the abilities of a player to be able to play that role and certainly Scotty has those abilities in terms of his strength, his skating ability, strong stick, competitiveness," Hakstol said. "Then also to go along with that I think it's a mentality and some experiences that help you be good in those roles, whether it be on faceoffs or in any three zones on the ice during play.

"Scotty needs to be very good two ways; he's got to be hard-nosed and he has to be reliable."

Forwards Sam Gagner and Vincent Lecavalier remained the "extra two" skaters in practice and appear destined to be healthy scratches in Thursday's opener. Luke Schenn, as the seventh defenseman, likely will join them in the press box, meaning the Flyers will have $11.3 million in cap hits not in the lineup. That, in addition to Andrew MacDonald's money tied up in the minors.