Why Maple Leafs should act fast on an extension for Scott Laughton

The acquisition of Scott Laughton was met with lots of criticism when the Toronto Maple Leafs traded for him from the Philadelphia Flyers last March. The Leafs were in desperate need of a third-line centre, but after 11 years in the Flyers organization, he struggled hard to find his footing with the team after his arrival.

He eventually found a home on the fourth line alongside Steven Lorentz and Calle Jarnkrok, where fans started to appreciate his defensive game and toughness a little bit more, but the offensive numbers were still bleak. He finished the 2024-25 season with two goals and two assists in 20 games with the Leafs, and only two assists in 13 playoff games. Considering the team gave up a first-round pick and one of their top prospects, fan favourite Nikita Grebenkin, the move was condemned across fan and media circles even if he started to win people over after finding his footing.

Fast forward to 2025-26, and after two freak injuries kept him out of action for most of the first six weeks of the season, fans are finally starting to see why Laughton was valued so high for the Flyers. While the offensive numbers still aren’t eye-popping on paper, with six goals and eight points in 29 games, Laughton’s personality and defensive game have made up for the lack of scoring. Having a summer to regroup followed by a full training camp under head coach Craig Berube proved to be just what the doctor ordered, and you could sense his optimism as he started to get accustomed to his new (old) home.

“It’s been an incredible summer for me,” Laughton told team host Ryan Leslie in an interview at training camp in September. “Getting to know the staff here and everyone around the building, and getting to know my teammates even better. We have a great group of guys here. I keep coming home and telling my wife how awesome it is to come into the rink every day.”

Laughton was also recently the subject of the latest episode of ‘The Leaf: Blueprint’, a docu-series the Leafs produce that follows them throughout the season, and admitted that the amount of time he spent in Philadelphia took a toll on him in terms of trying to hit the ground running with his new team.

“I’ve spoken about it quite a bit, but I think being in Philly for so long, it was hard,” Laughton said. “It was hard to have that big of a change happen, and it happened so quick. I got traded around 1:00, and I was on a flight at 6 pm. So, it’s a quick turnaround, and I played my first game the next night against Colorado. But, yeah, I feel very grateful.”

Laughton grew up in Oakville, Ontario, just outside of Toronto, and if there’s one way you can endear yourself to fans regardless of your play, it’s vocalizing your love for your hometown team.

“I always loved watching the Leafs,” Laughton continued. “I loved the early 2000s era, Darcy Tucker, Shayne Corson, Tie Domi, that whole era of hockey I just absolutely loved. Just a huge fan.”

Laughton was the centre of attention at the start of the calendar year after he helped get the Maple Leafs’ penalty kill up to third in the NHL. This included a torrid stretch of faceoff wins, including a performance against his old team that saw him win 19 of 20 faceoffs and also score the tying goal late in the game, helping set the team up for a 2-1 overtime win. As humble as they come, Laughton directed the attention to the team’s performance as a whole.

“A lot of commitment,” Laughton said when asked what he saw from the Leafs’ penalty kill. “Beast [Hildeby] was our best penalty killer, and that’s what you need. You need your goalie to be your best penalty killer, that’s what happens. We go 5-on-3 there for a little bit, Brando [Carlo] was awesome again, our D were great, getting in shot lanes. Benny [Simon Benoit] had a big block. Just keep finding a way.”

Despite the fact that he only has six goals on the season, they always seem to come at a good time. His first goal of the season was an insurance goal late in the third period against the Florida Panthers in December, he had his tying goal against his old team, and he scored what should have been an insurance goal against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday before the Leafs ultimately coughed up the lead and lost in overtime.