Philadelphia Flyers Rumors: Laughton Linked to Maple Leafs

 



The Philadelphia Flyers are a team to watch ahead of the 2023 NHL trade deadline. They are currently 22-23-10 and sit 24th in the NHL. The expectation was that they may miss the playoffs, but not be as bad as they are. As a result, they have a few players (James Van Riemsdyk, and Travis Konecny among others) that have generated some interest around the NHL.

One name that was brought up on The Leafs Report with James Mirtle and Jones Siegel was Scott Laughton. They had NHL insider Elliotte Friedman on to talk about names surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs, and one player that he mentioned was Laughton. He said "one of the guys that I've always wondered about with Toronto.... is Scott Laughton" 

‎The Leaf Report: A show about the Toronto Maple Leafs: 32 minutes with Elliotte Friedman on the Maple Leafs trade targets on Apple Podcasts

Elliotte Friedman from Hockey Night in Canada and 32 Thoughts joins Jonas and Mirtle, 16 days ahead of the deadline to discuss the Maple Leafs wants and needs leading up to March 3rd. Plus the guys critique the play of possible Leaf targets Patrick Kane, Timo Meier, Vlad Gavrikov, Ivan Barbashev, R...

He then went on to mention that the Maple Leafs need players who are tough to play against, and Laughton would fit that mould for them. He also brought up past rumours about if Laughton didn't sign the extension with the Flyers, where he would have gone. He continued to talk about how there were rumours that he was going to sign with Toronto or Ottawa. Instead, he chose to return to Philadelphia but acknowledges that there is a fit between Laughton and the Maple Leafs.

If Toronto can capitalize on the Flyers' misfortunes and can acquire Laughton, the asking price wouldn't be as high as other players such as Tyler Bertuzzi, or Timo Meier. Nevertheless, he would help the club in an area that the team does lack. Obviously, this was an "under the radar" player for Friedman, but if there is a fit, and Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas could get a deal done, it wouldn't make their team worse. 









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