Leafs scratch veteran trio ahead of trade deadline

The Toronto Maple Leafs said three veteran players -- forwards Scott Laughton and Bobby McMann and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- will not dress in Wednesday night's road game against the New Jersey Devils for roster management reasons.

The precautionary moves come ahead of Friday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline. The Maple Leafs play a back-to-back set against the Devils and the host New York Rangers on Thursday night.

All three players could be shipped to contenders as Toronto continues to slip out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Losers of four consecutive games, the Leafs were 13th in the conference and nine points back of the final wild-card slot entering Wednesday's action.

Laughton and McMann are pending unrestricted free agents, while Ekman-Larsson is signed through the 2027-28 season.

Laughton, 31, has tallied eight goals and 12 points in 43 games this season. Toronto sent a first-round draft pick to the Philadelphia Flyers to acquire Laughton at last year's deadline.

McMann, 29, has 19 goals and 32 points in 60 games. He is a homegrown talent who originally joined the Leafs organization as an undrafted college free agent in 2020.

Ekman-Larsson, 34, leads Toronto defensemen with eight goals and 35 points in 61 appearances. He signed with the Leafs in 2024 and recently represented Sweden at the Winter Olympics for the second time.