The Toronto Maple Leafs are at a crossroads-and the road ahead doesn’t look especially smooth. With the season slipping away and playoff hopes fading fast, they’re stuck in that dreaded middle ground: not quite bad enough to bottom out and reclaim their first-round pick from the Bruins, but not nearly good enough to be taken seriously as a postseason threat.
So now the focus shifts. Not to a playoff push, but to the March 6 trade deadline. And that brings us to one of the more intriguing names on the Leafs’ roster: Scott Laughton.
Laughton’s not the flashiest player on the ice, but he’s been one of Toronto’s most consistent presences this season. That’s no small feat, especially considering how underwhelming his initial stint with the Leafs was after coming over from Philadelphia at last year’s deadline.
With just 10 points in 35 games, his numbers don’t jump off the page-but this isn’t a story about stats. It’s about impact.
And Laughton’s has been steady, both on the ice and in the room.
Now, the Leafs have a decision to make. Do they try to recoup some of the assets they gave up to get him? Or do they double down and work out a new deal to keep him in Toronto beyond this season?
Laughton, for his part, sounds open to sticking around.
“I could see myself being here long-term,” he told The Athletic. “I know they're going to have to talk, my agent and Brad [Treliving], to see where we're at. I'm just trying to play and help this team.”
That conversation is going to need to happen quickly. The trade deadline is just over a month away, but the real crunch comes sooner: the NHL’s Olympic break will trigger a league-wide roster freeze from February 4 to 22. So if a move is coming-either a trade or a contract extension-it’ll likely need to happen before that window slams shut.
Of course, discussions can still take place during the freeze, even if paperwork has to wait. But with several Leafs players heading overseas for Olympic duty, the front office is working against the clock.
Laughton, meanwhile, is keeping things in perspective. At 31, he knows where he stands in his career.
He’s not chasing a massive payday. What he wants is a shot to win-and he believes the Leafs can still be that team.
“I’m definitely not at the start of my career but I feel healthy, like I have good legs,” he said. “I feel like I have a ton of good years left. ...
I believe in this team to win. That’s a big part of it at this point in my career.
I’ve fallen in love with the guys, too. There’s a lot of guys who care here.
It’s been special for me this year.”
That kind of veteran presence-grounded, motivated, and connected to the locker room-can be hard to replace. But if the Leafs’ slide continues, management may have no choice but to start making tough calls. And Laughton, as valuable as he’s been, could find himself on the move again.
For now, he’s focused on the task at hand: helping a struggling team find its footing. But the clock is ticking, and the next few weeks could go a long way in determining whether Laughton’s future remains in Toronto-or if his time in blue and white is nearing its end.