Maple Leafs Fill Need With Scott Laughton Trade from Flyers

The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired center Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a conditional 2027 first-round pick (top-10 protected) and prospect Nikita Grebenkin. Philadelphia will retain 50% of Laughton’s salary in the deal, while Toronto also sends a fourth- and sixth-round pick to the Flyers.

Laughton has one more year on his deal that will count as a $1.5 million cap hit against Toronto’s salary cap. 

The Maple Leafs are acquiring Scott Laughton from the Flyers, per @FriedgeHNIC ?@TheFourthPeriod was the first to report the trade pic.twitter.com/yvoUBCpb9n

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 7, 2025

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Laughton, 29, is a gritty, net-crashing center known for his tenacity, physical play, and defensive reliability. He brings energy and leadership, attributes the Leafs have been criticized for lacking in past playoff runs. He’s the kind of player that Leafs’ head coach Craig Berube will really like and it gives the Maple Leafs more flexibility in their lineup.

While there is some talk that the 2027 first-round pick Toronto gave up is a lot for a third-line center, Laughton is being seen as a key addition to Toronto’s bottom six.

Maple Leafs Badly Needed a Center

Ideally, the Leafs would have been able to acquire a second-line center. Not being able to, they went for the third-line guy.

The Leafs have struggled in recent postseasons due to a lack of physicality and gamesmanship. Laughton’s ability to battle in tough situations and embrace confrontations fills a huge need for Toronto, especially in playoff-style hockey.

Nikita Grebenkin is known as a real personality and it will be fascinating to see how well he gets along with head coach John Tortorella.

Next: Jets Acquire Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev in Deadline Trades