The Toronto Maple Leafs made some notable roster additions at last season's trade deadline, including defenseman Brandon Carlo and center Scott Laughton.

Carlo, acquired from the Boston Bruins, has fit in very well as one of Toronto’s top four defensemen, and the heavy price the Maple Leafs had to pay for him – a first-round draft pick and prospect center Fraser Minten – has been worth it.

However, the same can’t be said for Laughton, who arrived after playing parts of 12 seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers. At least, not yet.

For some reasons not entirely within his control, Laughton has struggled to stay healthy and has had short stretches of subpar play. While the Leafs had to pay a significant price for Laughton – a first-round pick and prospect Nikita Grebenkin – there’s still plenty of time left for Laughton to salvage the opportunity of playing for his hometown Leafs team.

Laughton has experienced some misfortune on the health front, suffering what is believed to be a foot injury after blocking a shot in a pre-season game. That’s prevented him from playing this past month, but he's making his season debut on Wednesday.

'Hopefully I Don't Have To See The Gym For A While': After Long Injury Layoff, Scott Laughton Eager To Boost Maple Leafs In Season Debut Laughton blocked a shot in pre-season, forcing the veteran forward to miss the first 13 games of the season

There’s no question the Maple Leafs need Laughton’s hard-nosed, defense-first approach to the game as they try and establish a new identity in the post-Mitch Marner Era. 

Nevertheless, Laughton’s slow acclimation to Leafs Land was very clear last season. In 20 games with Toronto after the trade, Laughton posted just two goals and four points. Although he had a relatively strong Stanley Cup playoffs with the Maple Leafs, he still had two points in 13 post-season games, and there’s still a sense that we haven’t yet seen Laughton at his best for the Blue and White.

That said, Laughton has every motivation to play well – including the motivation that comes with being in the final year of his contract. 

Laughton is earning $3 million this season, but the Flyers retained $1.5 million as part of the trade. And if Laughton can come in, stabilize Toronto’s fourth line and make the Leafs a tougher team in their own zone, Treliving and Maple Leafs fans will be thrilled that they gave up the assets they sent to Philadelphia in the trade. And we can see a world in which Laughton signs a hometown discount deal with the Buds before the season is through.

Laughton’s veteran know-how and dogged style of play are what the Leafs need more of as they try to climb out of the bottom part of the highly competitive Atlantic Division. So while the pressure is on Laughton to come in and try to be a seamless fit on the fourth line, he’s consistently been a 10- to 15-goal scorer and a 25- to 40-point producer.

And if he gets back to the level he was at for so many years in Philly, Laughton is going to be a fixture in Leafs Land for many years to come.

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