{"id":540476,"date":"2026-04-04T15:50:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/540476\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T15:50:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:50:17","slug":"toronto-maple-leafs-news-rumours-laughton-tavares-wickenheisers-influence-the-hockey-writers-toronto-maple-leafs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/540476\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Maple Leafs News & Rumours: Laughton, Tavares & Wickenheiser’s Influence – The Hockey Writers – Toronto Maple Leafs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> arrive in Los Angeles tonight in a curious state\u2014mathematically eliminated, yet not entirely irrelevant. That alone gives their game against the Los Angeles Kings a certain texture. The Kings are scrapping for their playoff lives in a crowded Western Conference race, while the Maple Leafs are left to sift through the remains of their season: effort, evaluation, and, one hopes, a measure of professional pride.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles has developed an unfortunate habit of tardiness. They fell behind 3\u20130 to the Nashville Predators<\/a> in their last game before mounting a spirited comeback, only to lose in a shootout. It is becoming a pattern\u2014sluggish beginnings followed by urgent recoveries. Against a team unburdened by consequence, that can be dangerous. The Maple Leafs may be out of the race, but they are not out of games, and a team playing freely in April can be a far more complicated opponent than one might expect.<\/p>\n

Related: Maple Leafs Talking Big Blue Line Trade Despite No GM<\/a><\/p>\n

For Toronto, the message from head coach Craig Berube has been plain enough: shoot the puck, simplify the game, and compete with purpose. Against the San Jose Sharks, they managed just 19 shots. If ever there was a polite game, the Maple Leafs played it. Now we see what this group will do when playoff possibilities have officially evaporated.<\/p>\n

Item One: Scott Laughton Finds His Place in a Different Fight<\/p>\n

One of tonight\u2019s more subtle backstories belongs to Scott Laughton<\/a>, now wearing the Kings\u2019 colours. From what we can see, he\u2019s fit in rather well. He\u2019s scored four goals in 14 games, which isn\u2019t setting the world on fire. Still, he had only eight goals in Toronto in roughly three times as many games.<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Laughton, when he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
(Photo by Gerry Angus\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Laughton has earned the Kings\u2019 trust in a playoff chase\u2014something he never quite seemed to secure with the Maple Leafs. He\u2019s playing a direct, engaged, and urgent game. It\u2019s an interesting shift. In Toronto, he often felt like part of the background noise: reliable, but not essential.<\/p>\n

In Los Angeles, he is part of something immediate. Context, it seems, in hockey as in life, can be everything. The Kings are not asking him to dazzle; they are asking him to matter. From a Maple Leafs perspective, his effectiveness elsewhere is a reminder.<\/p>\n

Related: Maple Leafs News & Rumours: Tavares, Stolarz & Cowan\u2019s Got to Wonder<\/a><\/p>\n

Building a roster and deploying it properly can be two different things. With the Kings, Laughton looks like a playoff piece. Whether Toronto had enough of those when the games truly counted is a question that will linger. Regardless of whether Los Angeles makes the postseason, Laughton has to feel some satisfaction in playing a more defined and trusted role.<\/p>\n

Item Two: John Tavares, Still Playing Hard and Producing<\/p>\n

There is something almost old-school about John Tavares. He is polite, dependable, and stubbornly productive\u2014qualities that tend to be overlooked until they are gone. This season, played out amid confusion and disappointment, has only sharpened appreciation for what he brings.<\/p>\n

At 35, Tavares is not receding. His 29 goals and 65 points in 76 games tell the story of a steady producer. He still goes to the hard areas. He still wins faceoffs and contributes on the power play. He still shoots with intent. Lately, he has found a late-season rhythm\u2014six goals in seven games, 16 points over 18 in March, and the occasional timely goal when needed.<\/p>\n

Related: Keith Pelley\u2019s Press Conference Leaves Reason for Maple Leafs to Be Concerned<\/a><\/p>\n

What distinguishes Tavares, however, isn\u2019t merely the production; it\u2019s the manner in which it comes. No fuss. No drama. He carries responsibility the way some players chase attention. On a Maple Leafs team that has lost its balance, he has been winning puck battles, taking contact, blocking shots, and logging intelligent minutes.<\/p>\n

Tavares holds things together. His solid season is unfolding amid a difficult one for his team. The Maple Leafs may have disappointed. Tavares has not.<\/p>\n

Item Three: Hayley Wickenheiser and the Shape of the Future<\/p>\n

In the April 3 edition of 32 Thoughts,<\/a> Elliotte Friedman provided an intriguing glimpse behind the curtain. The name that surfaced with unusual weight was Hayley Wickenheiser<\/a>. Her standing within the organization\u2014particularly with team president Keith Pelley\u2014appears not only solid, but growing.<\/p>\n

There was even some speculation that she might have been considered for an interim general manager role. Perhaps that reads too much into Friedman\u2019s comments, but the suggestion itself is revealing. Organizations do not casually elevate voices into those conversations. They do so because they see clarity, authority, and alignment with where they hope to go.<\/p>\n

\"HayleyHayley Wickenheiser, Team Canada (Photo by Phillip MacCallum\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Whether Wickenheiser ultimately ascends to such a position remains to be seen. But her increasing influence tells us something important: the Maple Leafs are not looking solely outward for answers. They are examining their own foundations, their own thinkers, their own internal compass. In a season defined by uncertainty, that may prove to be one of the more meaningful developments.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next for the Maple Leafs?<\/p>\n

It is tempting to assume that a team eliminated from playoff contention simply shuffles to the finish line. Experience suggests otherwise. Freed from expectation, players often rediscover their instincts. They play a touch faster. They hold the puck a moment longer. They try things.<\/p>\n

Related: How Hayley Wickenheiser is Shaping the Future of the Maple Leafs<\/a><\/p>\n

That is the danger the Maple Leafs present now. Veterans like Tavares continue to uphold their standards. Younger players are skating for contracts, roles, and relevance. Goaltenders are playing to protect their reputations. Somewhere in the mix is the simple desire to salvage something from a difficult season.<\/p>\n

These final games are not meaningless. They are revealing. They will show who competes when there is nothing left to gain\u2014and that, more than anything, may shape what comes next.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Maple Leafs arrive in Los Angeles tonight in a curious state\u2014mathematically eliminated, yet not entirely irrelevant.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[19804,5,611,20,5172,4,929,66,31,5171],"class_list":{"0":"post-540476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-hayley-wickenheiser","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-john-tavares","11":"tag-maple-leafs","12":"tag-mapleleafs","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-scott-laughton","15":"tag-toronto","16":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","17":"tag-torontomapleleafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}