The Toronto Maple Leafs made a bold move at the deadline to bring in two key players.
Toronto acquired defenseman Brandon Carlo from the Boston Bruins and Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers. Both were expected to be key players for the Maple Leafs, but Laughton has struggled and has been demoted to the fourth line.
Maple Leafs insider James Mirtle of The Athletic went on The JD Bunkis Podcast on March 24 and claimed Toronto coach Craig Berube doesn’t like Laughton.
“Berube, from what I’ve seen this season, makes judgment calls pretty quickly on guys when he doesn’t like them, when he doesn’t think something is working,” Mirtle said. “Case in point, look at the beginning of the season, they were supposed to have Nylander at center and they were supposed to play Rielly with Tanev. Both of those didn’t last hardly at all. Those were things that were talked about all offseason, management thought Tanev was going to play with Rielly, they thought Nylander was going to play center when they weren’t able to add a center in the offseason.
“Regardless of that, Berube just looks at it and says nope, Nylander can’t play center. Nope, I don’t like Rielly with Tanev,” Mirtle added. “And he hasn’t gone back to it. He makes his convictions for better or worse, he gets convinced relatively quickly and then he locks into something. He seems locked in that he doesn’t like Laughton, he’s not impressed.”
Laughton has recorded 0 goals and 0 assists and is a -5 in 8 games with the Maple Leafs since the trade.
Insider Urges Maple Leafs to Promote Laughton
Although Mirtle thinks Berube doesn’t like Laughton, he believes Toronto should look to promote Laughton.
Instead of having Laughton on the fourth line, Mirtle thinks Berube should put him on the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander to try and get his offense going.
“I would give Laughton more time to get up to speed. I would try him potentially up with Tavares and Nylander and get him feeling good about himself. You need Laughton to give you something. If you aren’t playing him at center, play him with good players,” Mirtle said.
Laughton has proven he can be an effective NHL player when given the chance. His career-high in goals is 18, so he can be an effective player down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Maple Leafs Coach Shares Advice to Laughton
With Laughton struggling, Berube says he sat him down and gave him advice.
Laughton grew up a Maple Leafs fan and is from the area, so Berube says he told him to just be himself and not overthink things.
“I think he’s trying to probably play the game without making mistakes, and he’s overthinking things instead of just playing,” Berube said. “(I told him), ‘Go Laughts. Just play. Be aggressive. Do your thing.’ That’ll come around. I do believe that. He wants to do well, and he’s just got to loosen up and go play… He’s holding back a little bit (and being) too safe almost.”
Laughton is skating on the third line with Max Domi and Nick Robertson.
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