Jamie Drysdale is one of them. The defenseman, along with forwards Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink, recently visited patients at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.
"You see older guys do things and they're obviously doing the right things, so it really rubs off on the younger group," Drysdale said. "It's also no surprise that 'Laughtie' does that, just knowing him off the ice. ... He's an unbelievable human, unbelievable person, just the way he treats everyone is second to none, so you definitely can learn a lot from that."
Laughton sees it as a continuation of what he learned as a younger player from teammates like Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds and others.
"I remember my first toy drive at Salvation Army with Jake Voracek, he was huge for me," Laughton said. "[Michael] Del Zotto, guys like that, Brandon Manning, 'G' always had his charity. And you see how many people you can help throughout, it makes a huge difference. And that's who I learned from. I learned from guys like Wayne Simmonds and all those guys. You're part of the community, you have a you have a platform, and it's special."
As the Flyers have focused part of their on-ice rebuild on a strong locker room culture, Laughton is seen as one of the driving forces.
"I think that's a really big part of being a pro," coach John Tortorella said. "It's not always the on-the-ice stuff; it's how you carry yourself off the ice. I think when you're a professional player, football, hockey, baseball, whatever it may be, and you're in the community, you are representing your organization all the time. And there's not too many guys better than that guy."