Scott Laughton came at a hefty price but still has time to live up to it

When the Toronto Maple Leafs traded for Scott Laughton of the Philadelphia Flyers at the trade deadline, it came with some skepticism from the fanbase. On the forefront, acquiring a Toronto-born player who filled a need at third-line centre and had sneaky goal-scoring ability is an idea that would typically appeal to most fans. The issue was the price. There wasn’t a ton of elite talent on the block at the trade deadline, so the prices for players with higher offensive upside, such as Brock Nelson, came at too hefty a price. This resulted in the price for players like Laughton being inflated, and understandably, it took a bit for fans to get on board with him. But even if the goals were minimal and even though he looked out of place for the first ten or so games following the deadline, fans could see glimpses of the fan favourite he could be.

How the year went

Let’s address the elephant in the room first. Everybody is going to look at that trade and say, ‘The Leafs traded Nikita Grebenkin and a first-round pick for a guy who had two regular-season goals and none in the playoffs.’ That is true, and nobody is denying that. But the reasoning for the price is deeper. For one, the first-round pick is for 2027, it’s conditional and top-10 protected, and assuming the Leafs don’t mail it in and finish in the bottom ten, it’s likely that the pick will fall in the bottom eight or so picks of the first round. Pair that with the fact that the Leafs got a fourth-round pick and a sixth-round pick back in return, and the fact that the Flyers retained 50% of Laughton’s contract, so he’ll only cost the Leafs $1.5 million next season, and the inflated price makes a little more sense.

Anyway, enough about the price. The purpose of this article is to analyze Laughton’s short time in Toronto to date, and that’s what we’re going to do. At the time he was traded to the Maple Leafs, he had 11 goals and 27 points in 60 games with the Flyers. The Leafs knew what they were getting in Laughton from an offensive standpoint; he has a single-season career-high of 18 goals and has only eclipsed the 40-point mark once in his career. His production down the stretch was not reflective of what he can do at his best, but there is a key factor to remember here. Laughton had spent his entire career to date with the Flyers, getting traded in the middle of his 11th year with the organization. Toronto boy or not, getting traded from the only franchise you’ve ever known and having to learn an entirely new system on the fly when teams are already in mid-season form and gearing up for the playoffs is a lot harder than the fans and media make it seem. It can take both a physical and an emotional toll on you, which Laughton surely experienced both of in the immediate weeks following the deadline.

Laughton struggled in the regular season, scoring his first goal with the Leafs in his tenth game, and he scored his second and final goal of the campaign in the regular season finale, notching the overtime-winner. As the season wrapped up and the playoffs began, he found himself on a line with Steven Lorentz and Calle Jarnkrok, which quickly became a third line that head coach Craig Berube trusted in key moments. It didn’t do much for his offensive output, with only two assists in 13 games and none of him, Lorentz, or Jarnkrok scoring a goal. But, the line succeeded from a checking standpoint and often found themselves matching up against one of the top two lines of their opponents. He also routinely found a way to contribute outside of the scoresheet, including a crucial shot block in the dying seconds of Game 6 against the Ottawa Senators that sprung William Nylander for an empty-net goal that clinched the series for Toronto.

Everybody, including Laughton himself, will tell you that he didn’t have his best in the final stretch of the 2024-25 season. But, with a full summer to reset, a full training camp under a coach he’s already familiar with, and some regular linemates, it’s easy to foresee the 2025-26 campaign going better for the 31-year-old. If he can provide 15 goals and 35-40 points with good physicality and strong defensive play, and god-willing, a strong playoff performance, it will be a lot easier to stomach the price the Leafs paid for him.

Statistical Profile

All stats at 5-on-5, minimum 400 minutes played. Courtesy of naturalstattrick.com and moneypuck.com

Scott Laughton’s analytical profile is a roller coaster, to say the least. On the defensive side of the puck, things are pretty flattering. He was in the upper echelon of the league for expected goals against, suggesting that he was doing everything he could to keep the puck out of his net when his line was on the ice. The low shooting percentage and expected goals for percentage also suggest that he was getting unlucky at times. From a puck possession standpoint and an actual production standpoint, his numbers are an analytic guru’s nightmare.

It’s worth noting, without putting too much stock into these numbers, that his rough start with the Leafs completely tanked his numbers. He actually had the fourth-highest expected-goals percentage with the Flyers at the time of his trade, and the second-highest among forwards at 53.88%. In the final 20 games of the season with the Maple Leafs, his expected-goals percentage was dead last on the team at a ghastly 36.46%. His standard output from the standpoint of advanced stats is closer to what he did with the Flyers than what he did with the Leafs, and we should have a better idea of what he can bring over a full 82-game season in 2025-26.

Select highlights

Scott Laughton’s first goal as a Leaf vs. San Jose Sharks, 3/28/25