Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
While Scott Laughton has been a bright spot in a very tough season for Toronto, they are staring an issue that could come back to haunt them down the line.
If you ask most fans how they feel about the current state of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s likely you’ll get a lot of frustrated people who are just wondering where it all went wrong as the team sputters into the end of games before the Olympics.
But one thing fans should point to as a positive in all this is the play of Scott Laughton since his return from injury after missing a month at the beginning of the year.
Should Toronto extend or trade Scott Laughton?
It also comes with a big decision for Toronto: Laughton’s pending free agency.
As one fan pointed out on X, it might be time for the Maple Leafs to decide whether or not to offer him an extension considering he’d be available for other teams later down the line.
Or if they are going to decide to cut ties, they should at least do something proactive:
At this point, with some separation from the WC2 race, Leafs need clarity on Laughton: extend him or move him at the deadline
You can’t risk losing him for nothing in FA when other teams will offer more money and a bigger role, especially if he’s playing under 10 minutes a night.
Laughton, for as good as he has been for both Toronto’s offense and defense, has seemingly dropped off for some reason. He went from floating around 11.5-14.5 minutes per game, but got under 10 vs. Vegas.
Toronto should keep Laughton if he can take hometown discount
There’s good reason to sign him for a couple more seasons, and you don’t need to splurge and give him a David Kampf-level deal; and hopefully you have that hometown advantage in him wanting to stay for a little cheaper.
Laughton, 31, has 10 points in 31 games this year (8 goals, 2 assists) with one-quarter of them coming shorthanded as he’s elevated Toronto’s PK and only costs $1.5-million thanks to retention on Philadelphia’s behalf.
We saw players take hometown discounts before, and if Laughton believes in the system and the culture then he could very well take a little pay hit to stay on board.
But that’s a lot to ask, and if the Maple Leafs are out of the thick of things and decide to retool, then they better get something for Scott Laughton or they’ll strike out yet again.
Previously on Hockey Patrol