On Friday, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers. Although it was reported that the Leafs had checked in on Mikko Rantanen and Brock Nelson, Laughton was ultimately sent to Toronto.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, who were incredibly thin at center ice, have an immediate positional need that Laughton fills. As the new third-line center, Laughton takes care of that by lining up behind John Tavares and team captain Auston Matthews.
Laughton doesn’t score much, but he can play multiple positions and is a fast skater who is good defensively.
Who know what wingers the Leafs will put him with, but the team is now much improved at centre.
Toronto Maple Leafs Address Current and Future Needs with Scott Laughton Trade
There’s also another key side to Laughton. He can kill penalties and he can fight. That’s the type of player Craig Berube loves.
The Leafs are thinking three or four moves ahead with this trade. While the best-case scenario is to win the division, the Leafs could ultimately face Tampa in the first round yet again. As such, a guy like Laughton provides an edge Toronto needs to combat the forward skill of the Bolts.
The Leafs are obviously betting that Nylander, Matthews, Marner, and Tavares will score more points in the playoffs than they have in the past, but Laughton does nothing to address the depth scoring problem. This is not out of the question, and depth scoring shouldn’t be a big problem given that they also have Robertson, Knies, Domi, and McMann in addition to Alex Steeves dominating the AHL.
The price was high, but when you take everything into account, I think it’s fair. In 2027, the Leafs gave up Nikita Grebenkin and a first-round pick. It is easy to see why the Leafs chose this course of action when you weigh the costs and contributions of Laughton against those of the much older Brayden Schenn and the amount the Blues were requesting in exchange for him
Overall, I give the Leafs get a solid A for this trade. While they have given up a first-round pick, they didn’t give up any of their top prospects and they ultimately got a very helpful player who fills a need at a reasonable price. When thinking about this move in the grander scheme of things, adding Scott Laughton has the potential to become one of the best moves Brad Treliving has pulled off during his tenure in Toronto.
