Scott Laughton's Return Date to Maple Leafs Lineup Revealed by Insider

During the preseason, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Scott Laughton blocked a shot and hobbled off the ice, leading to him being out for several weeks as he dealt with clearly more than just a stinger.

The team had to do a lot of lineup reshuffling, and while they have been decent so far, they could be better and Craig Berube is trying his best to make things work in the wake of Laughton's injury.

It's not easy, and they've already made some more changes heading into Tuesday's game, however there's a lot to look forward to, and according to Darren Dreger; there's even more to be hopeful about.

Speaking on TSN's First Up podcast, co-hosted by former Maple Leafs defender Carlo Colaiacovo alongside analyst Aaron Korolnek, the polarizing NHL insider gave his take on the Maple Leafs' struggles in the top-six.

In doing so though, he also gave fans a timeline as to when we cam expect Scott Laughton back on the ice:

That gives us about two weeks until we see Laughton back, and in that time the Maple Leafs will play five more games in that span, taking on New Jersey tonight, Buffalo in a back to back on the weekend, then another back to back versus Calgary and Columbus.

While it's not that much time, that's still another five games where Craig Berube may need to tinker with his lineup and not get the full experience he was hoping for out of training camp, and that's a double edged sword.

On one hand, he gets more time to experiment and see what works then find a way to fit Laughton into that equation, but on the flip side they can just as easily scramble to figure out a lineup and have no real spot to put him.

It depends how the next few games go, and the team needs to get a head start on things Tuesday night against former head coach Sheldon Keefe and the New Jersey Devils.

If they don't, it's going to be very disappointing although a silver lining is at least Scott Laughton's return is right around the corner.