Laughton joined Korolnek and Colaiacovo on TSN 1050 on Wednesday morning to discuss playing against his former team and his future as a pending unrestricted free agent.
As the bill came out for the dinner that Scott Laughton and his former Toronto Maple Leafs teammates had the night before he was set to face his former team, the now LA Kings forward "conveniently" stepped away to use the washroom.
A few days removed from Toronto's 7-6 overtime loss to Laughton and the Kings, Laughton joined TSN 1050's Aaron Korolnek and Carlo Colaiacovo on First Up to discuss playing his former club and an incident which occurred in the game.
"It's just a weird feeling," Laughton said on Wednesday morning about playing his former Maple Leafs teammates.
Laughton, whom the Maple Leafs acquired at the trade deadline last year, was shipped to Los Angeles in early March for a 2026 conditional third-round pick. Since joining the Kings, the 31-year-old has scored five goals and seven points in 16 games.
While it was a strange feeling going against former teammates with whom he had developed close relationships, Laughton says he appreciated the dinner they shared the night before the matchup.
"It was awesome. I conveniently went to the washroom right when the bill came out, so I didn't get the tab, actually. I picked up some of the trainers' bill, I'll say that," Laughton said.
"But no, the boys took care of me. I really appreciated that, but yeah, they came down to the beach, came over to my place, and we were playing some mini sticks with Reed, and ripping around my place a little bit," continued Laughton.
"It's just a weird feeling, like I said. I think that was one of my worst games of my career, playing against those guys. It felt a little bit soon to me, after you go to battle with them for so long, and playing against them was a weird feeling for sure."
One of the biggest moments of the night came late in the second period after Easton Cowan scored on the power play to put the Maple Leafs up 4-3.
After the puck went in, Matthew Knies turned and said something to Laughton, and the former Maple Leaf turned around and cross-checked his ex-teammate.
When asked after the game what he said, Knies admitted it wasn't anything important.
Korolnek and Colaiacovo then pressed Laughton, asking if Knies had said anything about the rumor that he picked up the tab at dinner the night before the game.
"Kniesy ain't paying for anything, I'll tell you that right now. He ain't the guy paying for anything," Laughton laughed.
"But no, he didn't even say anything bad. But that was the second power play goal they scored. I was on for both, so I was a little upset and gave him a light cross-check. I thought it was a weaker call, but definitely not the smartest on my part."
Last week, The Hockey News Toronto colleague David Alter was in L.A. and spoke one-on-one with Laughton about the trade to the Kings, Toronto's culture, and his future beyond this season, given that the forward is a pending unrestricted free agent.
He noted a return to Toronto could be in the cards. After all, it is home for him.
"I loved playing there. It was so cool," Laughton said. "Whatever happens, happens if that's an opening I see fit. But at the same time, they've given me great opportunity here and I'm hoping to hang on to it."
Korolnek and Colaiacovo followed up on this during their conversation on Wednesday, with Laughton stating it's too early yet to be thinking about that possibility.
"I haven't even really thought about it. I think you think about it right when you get traded and all that, but once I've settled in here, I think my focus is on trying to get into the playoffs here and see where that goes," he said.
"And then, once the summer hits, you navigate through everything. But the way they've treated me here has been amazing, and I'm just having a lot of fun playing for (DJ Smith) and playing with these guys, and getting a good opportunity here."
In 63 games over two seasons with the Maple Leafs, Laughton scored 10 goals and 16 points.