After what seemed like an annual rumor-fest surrounding Scott Laughton and potential trade targets, a deal was finally made on Friday afternoon.
The Philadelphia Flyers traded Laughton, a 2025 4th round pick and 2027 6th round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2027 1st round pick and prospect Nikita Grebenkin. The Flyers also retained 50% of Laughton’s salary, meaning all three of their retention spots are filled (Andrei Kuzmenko, Kevin Hayes).
Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic was the first to report the deal.
The 1st-round pick falls in 2027 and is top-10 protected. Details of the picks the Flyers are giving up have not been revealed yet.
Laughton has recorded 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points in 60 games this season. He has also won 49.6 percent of his faceoffs.
The Flyers selected Laughton with the 20th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. Over his NHL career he has appeared in 661 games, racking up 106 goals and 159 assists for 265 points. Laughton ranks 14th all-time in Flyers history in games played.
Laughton has been the heartbeat of this Flyers team over the last few seasons. He was the only player with a letter on his sweater when John Tortorella took over as head coach and he displayed his leadership on and off the ice at all times. His teammates adore him and the front office and coaching staff have raved about his professionalism constantly.
Unfortunately, moves like this are what comes with rebuilding. Laughton is 30 years old – soon to be 31 – and doesn’t fit into the long-term outlook of the Flyers. He will help bolster a Maple Leafs squad that was searching for depth and he will be a crucial player in their bottom-six and can play on their penalty kill as well. Leafs head coach Craig Berube knows Laughton from his time behind the Philadelphia bench, so that may make adjusting to Toronto a bit easier for the versatile forward.
On the other side, Grebenkin is a forward who has spent time between the Maple Leafs and AHL’s Toronto Marlies this season. Grebenkin was a 5th-round pick by Toronto in 2022 and played through the ranks of Russia before coming to North America. He registered 41 points for Metallurg Magnitogorsk last season and 6 points in the playoffs en route to a Gagarin Cup title.
This season, the 21-year-old has posted 9 goals and 12 assists for 21 points in 39 games with the Marlies. He was rewarded with 7 games with the Maple Leafs in which he was held scoreless.
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