Scott Laughton Promoted in Leafs Lineup Ahead of Game Against Former Team

After a dismal showing against the Nashville Predators on Saturday night, Craig Berube showed a lot of fire at the Maple Leafs practice Monday morning, as the team needs to refocus ahead of a must-win game against Philadelphia.

Berube hasn't officially given his lineup as of yet, but has confirmed that he's promoting Scott Laughton ahead the Flyers game, as the trade deadline acquisition tries to kickstart things, and Berube hopes it starts against his old team.

Laughton heads to the third line alongside Max Domi and Nick Robertson, meaning either Pontus Holmberg, David Kampf, or Calle Jarnkrok will end up sitting on Tuesday.

While it looks like Kampf is the casualty, Berube is known to change things last minute, so nothing is set in stone until they get on the ice.

He's been fairly unremarkable since coming over on March 7. Laughton has yet to register a point, is a rough minus-5, and hasn't been the edgy, gritty, defensive 3C Toronto envisioned when they traded Nikita Grebenkin and a first round pick for him.

Laughton spent his entire career with the Flyers before being dealt to the Maple Leafs, and as each game passes it looks like GM Daniel Briere pulled off a heist. Hopefully the familiarity with the Flyers game plan and some newly discovered chemistry with a new line is exactly the combination needed to get him going.

This season, Laughton has 27 points (11G, 16A) to go along with a brutal minus-22 rating (although a lot of that can be due to how bad Philly has been this season overall) and winning 50.5% of his face-offs.

But hasn't scored since Feb. 8, and only has one assist since Feb. 22; the offense just isn't there yet which is a worrying concern as each game passes without a point.

It will be interesting to see if Laughton's promotion gives him some extra motivation, as no doubt being sent down to the fourth line isn't a great feeling. He's the ultimate team player though, and understands his role might be one that's fluid instead of static.

But if he ends up continually failing regardless of where Craig Berube puts him in the lineup, it's going to spell disaster for the team not only this season, but in the future; especially if Grebenkin grows into becoming a star.