One thing that has been extremely noticeable about the Philadelphia Flyers this postseason has been their depth. The Flyer’s fourth line stepped up tremendously in the first round-robin game against the Boston Bruins scoring 2 out of the 4 goals. The young defensive pairing of Philippe Myers and Travis Sanheim has been impressive offensively with each scoring a goal in the last two games. It really says something about a hockey team when its first-line can become virtually non-existent on the score sheet (excluding Sean Couturier’s goal in the exhibition game with the Pittsburgh Penguins) and still be winning contest after contest against the best teams in the east. One of the biggest reasons for this has been because of the Flyers’ second line. In the past three games, the Flyers have scored 10 goals and 5 of them were scored by the Laughton-Hayes-Konecny line. 

𝙲𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚢. #AnytimeAnywhere | @GEICO pic.twitter.com/Al0JfqucMy

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) August 7, 2020

Personally, I’ve been impressed by this line since they began playing together in the regular season. The skill of these players and their chemistry as a unit has combined into some really beautiful hockey. 

“When you play with TK and Laughts, it makes it easy out there.”- Hayesy on the 21-13-11 line chemistry. #AnytimeAnywhere | #PHIvsWSH pic.twitter.com/tdB1zGveP1

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) August 6, 2020

The Players:

Scott Laughton

Let’s start off by looking at the most surprising member of this trio, Scott Laughton. Laughton was drafted as the 20th overall pick for the Flyers in 2012. For someone who went so high in their draft year, Laughton’s play has not been all that impressive over the past 8 years. If you look at his career stats, Laughton has not put up the numbers that one would expect of a first-round draft pick with 321 Games Played, 44 Goals, 62 Assists, 106 points, and a +/- of -11. However, this year, things have began to change for the better. In 49 GP, Laughton has 13 G, 14 A, 27 pts, and a +/- of 13. While this season only accounted for 15% of his total time in the NHL, Laughton has put up over 25% of his career points. Those numbers look to increase if his play continues at its current pace.  

🆃🅷🅸🆂 🅻🅸🅽🅴.#AnytimeAnywhere | #PHIvsWSH pic.twitter.com/vTL8gh0Ggu

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) August 6, 2020

Laughton’s ability to play either center or wing makes him incredibly valuable and allows for Alain Vigneault to switch up the lineup more freely, but I think we can all agree that the perfect place for Scott Laughton is right beside TK and Hayes. 

Kevin Hayes

With his 7-year 50 million dollar contract, you’d expect great things from a player like Kevin Hayes. Fortunately for the Flyers and fans alike, Hayes has been doing quite a few great things. Not only has the 28-year-old has put up 41 pts this season, but he also is one of the key reasons the Flyers’ penalty kill has gone from 78.48% last season (below the league average) to 81.82% this season (above league average). Hayes is an incredible presence in the team’s locker room and always has positive things to say about his teammates. His scoring ability, penalty kill, and energy as the center of this Flyers’ line are obvious in each and every game he plays. 

The Best One with a backhand beaut. pic.twitter.com/qAovTtjW39

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 28, 2020

Travis Konecny

Travis Konecny has been a stellar player since he began playing with this hockey club and he continues to grow each and every season. This past season has been his best yet. He ended the season with 61 pts, tying his personal record (one which he surely would have beat this season if it had not been paused due to Coronavirus). The Flyers only played three games without Konecny this year (due to a concussion he suffered on December 7, 2019, in a game against the Ottawa Senators) and they lost all three of them. Not only that, but the Flyers have won more games when Konecny puts up any points as opposed to when he doesn’t ( 31-9-2 with points from TK and 10-9-5 without) Konecny’s energy is infectious for his teammates and his both his passing and shooting ability make him an essential part of why this second line has become so dangerous. 

NSFW: This pass. #AnytimeAnywhere | #PHIvsWSH pic.twitter.com/yiiPZZv6uw

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) August 6, 2020

Watching these three play together is almost magical, they always seem to find each other out there on the ice and have been putting up major points for this hockey club. Not to mention the entertainment they provide in the form of TK and Laughton’s aggressive personalities and chirps.

 I expect this line to continue to excel throughout the postseason and I would not be surprised if they the reason the Flyers will be able to make a deep run in this year’s playoffs.