The Toronto Maple Leafs were dealt an unfortunate blow. In Thursday night's preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings, Scott Laughton suffered an injury and while it wasn't obvious during game action, the team announced that he will be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
With the season starting next Wednesday, the Leafs will need someone to replace Laughton's role as fourth-line centre. Someone that can do relatively enough to not jeopardize the Leafs' depth but also just make some sense.
By our count, there's roughly four Leafs who could take over.
Calle Jarnkrok
This is the most obvious option. Calle Jarnkrok is not even in the regular lineup right now and would be starting the season as a healthy scratch (if not placed on waivers and sent down to the AHL). At practice on Friday, Jarnkrok was playing on a "fifth line" among the extras and took the centre position. It would just make sense as a temporary solution that is maybe the most direct line to draw.
No out-of-the-box thinking with this one. Jarnkrok is just the next centre up.
Nicolas Roy
There is a world where Leasfs head coach Craig Berube could shuffle his lines so to not lose the scoring threat on each one and still feel comfortable no matter what, throwing over whichever line he wants in any situation.
With that in mind, to replace the injured Laughton, there is an option to move Max Domi back to centre on the third line -- working down the middle between Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli, or another winger because Maccelli might take over the first-line right wing spot. That would then cause Roy to go down to the fourth line next to Steven Lorentz. It's not the most optimal situation for Roy, but it also keeps a much more balanced lineup and it makes Berube's job easier.
Jacob Quillan
Why not bring a youngster up to see if he can hang? Jacob Quillan spoke earlier at training camp about wanting to become a full-time NHLer soon, so why not just start with him down the middle in a low-risk position?
We can't see a world where Leafs management and Berube would rather have the 23-year-old centre in the lineup ahead of someone more established like Calle Jarnkrok, but it's certainly not impossible. If there is a next-man-up from the Marlies, and is on the younger side, it's most likely Quillan.
David Kampf
We do know that the Leafs placed David Kampf on waivers earlier Friday, but that doesn't mean that they might just go "oops, come back". Maybe, after a couple practices of Jarnkrok, Berube would really rather see the one-sided defensive centre make his way back to the NHL.
Either way, the Leafs will need to find the replacement for Laughton and pretty soon since the games actually start to matter in a few days.