Year one is a two-way contract that would pay $750,000 (NHL minimum) on the Flyers’ NHL roster and a lower rate if Laczynski plays in the American Hockey League with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Year two is a one-way deal with a guaranteed $775,000 salary whether he’s in the NHL or the AHL.
For Laczynski, the contract represents an opportunity to show he can stay healthy and earn a regular NHL job. He’s always been a player with faith in his own ability to fit into any lineup in whatever role he’s asked to be. At lower levels, he’s adapted from being anything ranging from a two-way role player in the bottom six to someone expected to carry more of an offensive role either at center or on a wing.
He did this successfully in college at Ohio State. He did it internationally, beating out more heralded prospects to earn a spot on the gold-medal winning Team USA squad at the 2016-17 World Junior Championship.
Laczynski’s confidence was such that the Flyers’ 2016 sixth-round pick (169th overall) turned down an opportunity to turn pro following his junior season in order to play his senior year before signing with the Flyers.
Overall in his college career, Laczynski averaged more than a point per game. He posted 143 points (48 goals, 95 assists) in 138 games. As a senior, he served as the Buckeys’ alternate captain in his senior year and led the team in scoring with 34 points, which tied for 3rd in the Big Ten Conference, and 23 assists, which ranked second in the conference. In fact, Laczynski led his team in scoring in two of his last three seasons and was named First Team All-Big Ten in 2018, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a three-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete honoree.
After turning pro, Laczynski showed the ability to move around the lineup and start making an offensive impact as a rookie in the AHL for the Phantoms in 2020-21. He posted 10 points in 14 games (six goals, four assists) including a torrid run from March 21 to 31 that saw him rack up six goals in a five-game span and earn his first NHL recall.
The stretch was highlighted by a hat trick against the Binghamton Devils on March 26, 2021. In that game, Lacynski scored one goal apiece at 5-on-5, on a power play and then shorthanded. The shortie was a highlight-reel caliber goal that saw the forward deke to the backhand, pull the puck between his legs and flip it over the goaltender’s glove as the netminder bit and went post-to-post in the opposite direction.
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