After four seasons of college hockey at Ohio State University, Tanner Laczynski has signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. Headed into the 2020-2021 season, he will be on the same AHL roster with Morgan Frost and German Rubtsov in Lehigh Valley. Laczynski played 36 games this season tallying 34 points. This was his second-best season, his best was sophomore year. Laczynski was drafted in 2016 in the sixth round, 169th overall.
Tanner Laczynski registered 23 assists and scored 11 goals this season at Ohio State University. Laczynski, 6’1″ and 205lbs, is a playmaking center. He carries greater size than Travis Konecny, Claude Giroux, Scott Laughton, and Morgan Frost, so there isn’t any concern about his size at the NHL level. He was due to be a free agent in August before signing the entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. Through his maturity as a hockey player at Ohio State University, Laczynski offers to be a good watch this upcoming 2020-2021 preseason.
A rotational center is something that the Philadelphia Flyers welcome during the regular season. Morgan Frost, Derek Grant, Tyler Pitlick, German Rubtsov, Nate Thompson, and Mikhail Vorobyev were all additional centers that were used in Alain Vigneault’s game lineup. Grant, Pitlick, Thompson, and Vorobyev are all players that have yet to receive an offer as a UFA or RFA next season. The logical rotational center next season would be Frost. However, Tanner Laczynski has an opportunity to challenge for playing time in the NHL during his first season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Something else to consider is the likelihood that Derek Grant could be more than a lease this season and that Mikhail Vorobyev will likely receive a tender from the Philadelphia Flyers. This stiffs the audition for Tanner Laczynski to get playing time with the Flyers but gives him a great cast to develop with on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In all likelihood, the Phantoms could be icing Frost, Vorobyev, Rubtsov, then Laczynski. It’s an exciting start for Laczynski to sign his entry-level contract with Philadelphia. Congratulations to the 22-year-old out of Ohio State University.
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