Scott Laughton was vital to Toronto's lineup before being traded to LA, and with him sticking with the Kings, the team took a unique strategy to replace him.
Brad Treliving made a handful of moves during his tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs and a lot of them were bad. Though he paid heavily for many players, the one that may be considered a decent one overall is the Scott Laughton deal.
Laughton came in and steadied the PK and brought in a locker room leader who endeared himself to the fanbase for his ability on the ice and his teammates for his personality off it. But he was only here for a handful of games before being traded to the Kings this past deadline and re-upped with them in free agency.
A Laughton reunion would have committed a lot of money to the bottom-six
Laughton admitted that he wanted to stick in LA due to the team's treatment of him though felt like he didn't exactly have a concrete idea of what was going on:
It's a lot all at once but happy to go back to LA and fit in well there and have a good role. The guys treated me well and the organization was great to me.
A whirlwind of a month and you kind of don't know where you're going and it's a different process...I'm happy it's over and I can settle in and go from there.
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Laughton did fit in quite swimmingly in LA much like the other Maple Leafs trade pieces in Bobby McMann and Nic Roy - both of whom are sticking around with their 'new' teams. There was talk about Laughton coming back potentially, but it felt unfeasible given that Toronto added half a dozen players to replace him.
Toronto divided his responsibility between five players
The Maple Leafs' signings this summer clearly had a goal of improving the defensive side of things and a lot of those players are very Laughton-esque:
- Nick Paul
- Teddy Blueger
- Colton Sissons
- Brandon Duhaime
- Zack MacEwan
Sissons and Blueger add the elite face-off skillset, meanwhile Duhaime adds that gritty and relentless engine who can also add some physicality and protection. Paul is the offensive side of things who also offers what Laughton does defensively and MacEwan is added toughness.
Those deals all have a price tag of anywhere between $875,000 and $4-million AAV which isn't exactly terrible for role players, though the team does need a bit of help in the top-six (but Laughton wouldn't be there anyways).
It's a 'replacement by committee' strategy that John Chayka is banking on, knowing that having five Laughtons is better than one.
Toronto's new approach will come down to the offensive side of things
We know that the team got better defensively, that's a genuinely objective fact. But we have no idea how much offence we're going to get either. Sissons has never had more than 35 points in his career, and Blueger hasn't ever hit 30.
Duhaime averages about 10 points a season and is your heavy hitter (literally) meanwhile MacEwan has barely scored. That leaves Paul, a former two-time 20-goal scorer as your main offensive weapon.
He's looking to bounce back and depending on the situation, guys like Sissons and Blueger can score when needed but don't expect them to score every time they are on the PK and their role is meant to stop scoring, not offer it.
You're hoping that Paul can come back to his 20-goal form, while getting your typical 25-35 points from Sissons and Blueger. Dakota Joshua needs a strong season as well (and also capable of scoring) meanwhile AHL hopefuls like Bo Groulx could also add much needed offence.
The fact of the matter is though, the team decided that Laughton was able to be replaced essentially multiple times throughout the lineup. It may work out well in the end but we'll have to wait a couple more months to know for sure.
Did you want the Maple Leafs to bring back Scott Laughton this summer?
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