The Toronto Maple Leafs acquisition of Scott Laughton at the trade deadline, has been underwhelming. They are likely to give Laughton every chance to play, considering the cost they paid to get him, but unless he gets a lot better down the stretch, Craig Berube is going to have to consider making a controversial decision when the playoffs start.
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers in the waning hours of the March 7 trade deadline for a 2027 first-round pick and Nikitia Grebyonkin. The package looked appropriate at the time due to the heavy sellers market, the fact that Laughton is signed through the 2025-26 regular season, and Philadelphia's retention of 50 per cent, which lowers his cap hit to $1.5 million.
But through his first 10 games with the blue and white, Laughton has bounced around the line up.
Debuting in his first three games as third line centre in between Bobby McMann and Max Domi, the line struggled at both ends of the ice. The new addition is not known for his offensive ability, so replacing Nicholas Robertson with the Oakville, ON native was counterproductive for a third line that was producing offence at an above-average rate.
At this point, Scott Laughton is questionable for the Leafs Playoff Lineup
The change did not bring much defensive stabilization to the third line either, which is what the Maple Leafs hoped when they acquired him.
A lack of results through his first few games led to William Nylander being put on his wing to see if it would spark any offence from Laughton. That question was answered quickly, as Berube made an in-game adjustment once he realized Laughton could not keep up with Nylander’s offensive prowess.
The bench boss quickly demoted Laughton to the fourth line, where he did not look any better. So far, in 25 minutes of ice time, the Jarnkrok/Laughton combo has been on the ice for 35 shot attempts against and just 6 for. That's a puck possession rating of 14% and is among the worst you'll ever see in the NHL for more than a couple shifts.
Shots when Jarnkrok/Laughton are paired together are 15-4 against, and they have an 18% Expected Goals Rating, which is about half of what Ryan Reaves was putting up. (stats naturalstattrick.com).
It's surprising that the Leafs have had to demote their newest acquisition to the fourth line, but it's even worse that he's not even performing there.
Against his former team on Tuesday night, Berube moved him up to the 3rd line in hopes of sparking some offence out of the veteran. He did not record a point in the Maple Leafs 7-2 victory but handled his minutes well and was not a detriment to the third line, like he was when first acquired. This was inarubably the best game he played since being here.
Toronto have three weeks to figure out their lineup before the Stanley Cup playoffs start, and it’s still unclear where Laughton will be pencilled in come game one.