Injury Hits Maple Leafs Hard as Forward Expected to Miss Several Weeks of Action

Acquired at the trade deadline last season for Nikita Grebenkin and a first-round pick, Scott Laughton struggled in his 20 regular season games with the Leafs, but began to find his game again in the post-season.

During the summer, Laughton spoke candidly about how the trade affected his game when he first joined the club.

He also revealed that a full summer in Toronto has him excited to begin this year, which showed in the pre-season games he played.

Having found a new linemate in 20-year-old Easton Cowan, who he has taken under his wing, Laughton was fired up for the season. Unfortunately, now his start to the season will be delayed by a significant amount of time.

Laughton will have to wait to begin his first full season with the Leafs as the club announced on Friday morning that he will be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Laughton's injury will force the Leafs to rethink their final roster decisions regarding David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok and Nick Robertson -- all of which have been on the outside looking in throughout training camp.

Entering the final season of his contract, the Toronto native was hopeful that he would be able to get off to a good start and prove that he is worth an extension. Hopefully, the injury heals quicker than expected, because Laughton has formed one heck of a 4th line with Cowan and fan-favourite Steven Lorentz.