顿贰狈痴贰搁鈥擳丑别听Maple Leafs聽believe they got themselves some extra juice for a run to the playoffs after trading for centre Scott Laughton and defenceman Brandon Carlo before the Friday.
鈥淚t’s an exciting time of year,鈥 Leafs captain Auston Matthews said. 鈥淲e’ve got our group now. There’s no changes that can be made. We know who we’re rolling with, and that’s the exciting part.鈥
Both Laughton and Carlo are expected to be in the Leafs lineup Saturday night when 海角社区官网plays Colorado at Ball Arena. Just who they’re going to play with, well, coach Craig Berube wasn’t quite prepared to say, but he was happy with the moves.
鈥淚 like our adds,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淚 think they make us a better team.鈥
The flaws in the Leafs lineup have been laid bare in recent games. The loss of shot-blocking stalwart Chris Tanev with an injury showed a need for another experienced defenceman. Enter the six-foot-five, 218-pound 28-year-old Carlo, who could slot in with Morgan Rielly.
鈥淗e’s been a very good defenceman in Boston for some years now,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淗e’s a good shutdown guy, a top-four defender, good penalty killer. He has a great stick and defends.鈥
The third line has been a work in progress all year, with Max Domi better on the wing but forced into the centre’s job. Laughton, a versatile forward and penalty killer, should help stabilize that.
鈥淲e’re getting a great teammate for one, a real good person,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淗e’s a guy that’s versatile: centre, wing, penalty kill and some power play. So he touches all aspects of the game. He plays a physical brand of hockey and he’s a hard-nosed player but has ability.鈥
Both players have links to the GTA.
Laughton, 30, is from Oakville. He has registered 265 points (106 goals, 159 assists) and 386 penalty minutes in 661 regular-season games while adding 10 points (six goals, four assists) in 24 playoff games.
He’s familiar with wearing blue and white, having played minor hockey with the GTHL Marlboros, and he told TSN he was excited to be Leaf.
鈥淚t’s pretty surreal,鈥 Laughton said. 鈥淟etting it all sink in. Excited for a chance at the playoffs. To be able to come home, being a Leafs fan growing up, it’s really cool and really special.鈥
Laughton works out over the summer with many of the local Leafs and even spent time at a camp with Matthews.
鈥淗e’s pretty laid back, pretty relaxed, pretty funny,鈥 Matthews said. 鈥淎 lot of the 海角社区官网guys know him, so I think he should come in and fit in pretty easily.鈥
Berube coached Laughton in his early days in Philadelphia, and Philippe Myers and Anthony Stolarz were teammates in the Flyers system.
鈥淗e’s a hard worker, he’s got some skill, can play up and down the lineup for us,鈥 Stolarz said. 鈥淭he most important thing is off the ice; he’s a great human being and I think he’s going to mesh in well with our locker room.鈥
Matthews and Carlo were teammates on Team USA at the 2015 and 2016 world junior tournament.
鈥淎wesome guy,鈥 Matthews said. 鈥淪uper down to earth. He’s a big man. Hard to play against, hard to get by. He’s got a long reach. Happy to be on the side playing with him now.鈥
That the Flyers would be sellers didn’t come as a surprise. Laughton even created a 鈥淟ast Supper鈥 photo from the Flyers’ last road trip, expecting a trade.
That the Bruins were sellers was more of a shock, and that they were trading with division rivals聽鈥 they also sent Brad Marchand to Florida聽鈥 raised eyebrows.
鈥淒efinitely a shocker when I heard it was Toronto,鈥 Carlo said. 鈥淏ut it makes sense when you look at the group you’ve got there. Auston Matthews is one of the best goal scorers in the game, if not the best.
“What an opportunity for me to go in there and try and help this group win.鈥
Both players are more than just rentals. Laughton has one more year left at a cap hit of $1.5 million (U.S.), thanks to Philadelphia retaining half of his salary. Carlo has two more years at $3.485 million, with Boston having retained 15 per cent of his cap hit.
The term on the deals and the salary retention explain the prices.
We tracked every rumour, trade and reaction involving the聽Maple Leafs聽and teams around the NHL all the way through the 3 p.m. deadline.
We tracked every rumour, trade and reaction involving the聽Maple Leafs聽and teams around the NHL all the way through the 3 p.m. deadline.
The Leafs gave up prospect Nikita Grebenkin聽and a top-10 protected 2027 first-round pick for Laughton. The Leafs also received a fourth-round pick in 2025 (only to flip it) and a sixth-round pick in 2027.
The price was heftier for Carlo. The Bruins get highly touted prospect聽Fraser Minten, a top-five 2026 first-round pick and that Philadelphia fourth-rounder in 2025. The Bruins retained 15 per cent of Carlo’s salary.
The fact that they are not聽rentals mattered a great deal to Treliving.
鈥淵ou take all that into consideration,鈥 the GM said. 鈥淏ut certainly finding players that were going to be here beyond this year was something that we attempted to do.鈥
To make roster and salary-cap space, the Leafs sent forward Connor Dewar ($1.18 million) and defenceman Conor Timmins ($1.1 million) to Pittsburgh for a fifth-round pick in 2025. Both would have been healthy scratches with the new additions. The Leafs also put Max Pacioretty ($873,770) on long-term injured reserve.
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