Ex-Teammate Hypes Up Scott Laughton Amid Early Struggles with Maple Leafs
Photo credit: Bob Gray - USA Today Sports
Scott Laughton's former teammate in Erik Johnson explains to Leafs Nation what to expect from their deadline acquisition who is currently mired in a slump.
While it hasn't been the most seamless of transitions, Scott Laughton's tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs has left a lot to be desired for player, head coach, and fans alike.
Laughton was heavily scouted by the Maple Leafs before they swung for a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers at the cost of a first round pick in 2027 and prospect Nikita Grebenkin. The hope was that he would take over the 3C which had been a position of weakness for the club for most of the season.
Unfortunately it hasn't gone exactly as planned and before the Leafs jumpstarted their winning streak, head coach Craig Berube reshuffled his lineup with Laughton finding himself on the fourth line.
In 7 games since the trade deadline, Laughton has put up no points, holds a minus-3 rating, has accrued 7 PIMs in 12:55 ATOI but has also won 56.7% of his draws and has collected 16 hits and 6 blocked shots.
There's certainly something to admire about Laughton's game and some things to be excited about despite the donut in the points category but according to one of his former teammates, there's a lot more to come.
Former Stanley Cup winning defenseman from the Colorado Avalanche, Erik Johnson spent the last two seasons with Laughton in Philadelphia and had a front row seat to everything that made him a hot commodity at the deadline:
"Just a guy you want in your corner. Team guy. Will do anything for the team to win. Swiss army knife. Can play on the penalty kill. Can play on the power play. Wins faceoffs. Great leadership. Just a tremendous human being. Really going to miss him. But the Leafs got a good one, for sure. I know Toronto was his first choice of all the teams that were calling about him - which was a lot. And he is from here, so I know it was a childhood dream to play here. He was super excited to come here. Always grew up cheering for the Leafs."
At it's core, Laughton's game is very simple but extremely valuable to a contending team. His relentless forechecking, ability to win face-offs, physicality and willingness to put the body on the line, and aggressive penalty killing are all hallmarks to his game and something that Craig Berube is itching to see on the ice surface as soon as possible.
"I do believe he's overthinking it a little bit, and really wants to do well, first and foremost. And sometimes that can hurt you. Instead of just going out and playing freely and using your abilities, what got you in the NHL. I know that there's a lot more in there. He can be more aggressive. Playing on your toes and not playing safe, I think, will get him out of that."
Laughton's next chance to showcase his intangibles comes tonight against the Nashville Predators. Playing on the wing alongside David Kampf and Steven Lorentz might open up his game a little more and finally get him on the board for the first time as a member of the Maple Leafs.
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MARS 22 | 2682 ANSWERS Ex-Teammate Hypes Up Scott Laughton Amid Early Struggles with Maple Leafs On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate Scott Laughton's tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs so far? | ||
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| 4-6 | 1378 | 51.4 % |
| 7-9 | 162 | 6 % |
| 10 | 20 | 0.7 % |
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