Could Maple Leafs Trade for Flyers’ Scott Laughton?

A Toronto Maple Leafs trade with the Philadelphia Flyers could be on the horizon. At least, it was in the recent past, with Scott Laughton nearly heading north of the border.

Mike Stephens, formerly of The Hockey News, shared Wednesday night that a Maple Leafs trade for Laughton was close at one point, but that the Flyers’ asking price was too high. This was not something that happened under current Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving.

Related to the Friedge report of the Leafs looking for a centre, word is they’ve coveted Scott Laughton for quite some time.

They were pretty close to acquiring him at one point. PHI’s price was high.

Obviously, there’s a new GM now. But wonder if they circle back.

— Mike Stephens (@mikeystephens81) February 8, 2024

Stephens was adding to a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who said the Maple Leafs are looking to add another center in his “32 Thoughts” column. This comes just under a week after reports that the Flyers were indeed entertaining Laughton trade calls from around the NHL.

The key to a potential Laughton trade seems to be his contract. Term and cap hit are two coveted items amongst general managers, and Laughton has both. The 29-year-old is signed for two more years, not including this one, at a $3 million cap hit.

Laughton will be an unrestricted free agent in 2026, when he is 32 years old. Most notably, Laughton does not have any trade protection or movement clauses in his contract. If the Flyers decide a trade is in the best interest of the organization, Laughton will go to whichever team Philadelphia sends him to.

As for Toronto, they have $34,999 in cap space with their LTIR pool, so they’ll need to send players the other way. Any Maple Leafs trade will depend solely on Toronto’s willingness (and ability) to move money and continue their salary cap balancing act.

The Flyers just received salary cap relief for Carter Hart, so they’ll have no problems obliging as long as they aren’t hamstrung in the long-term.

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