Scott Laughton didn’t require a name tag when he met Max Domi upon joining the Maple Leafs.
After all, the two have known each other for almost their whole lives.
Acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday, Laughton on Monday told media in Salt Lake City the story about how he met Domi.
“We learned to skate together,” Laughton, an Oakville native, said. “He was three, I was four and we were doing C-cuts, edges, we have known each other for quite some time.
“He would get called up to our Marlies team when I played there (in minor hockey). It’s nice to have that comfortability with someone.”
The original meeting would have come in the late 1990s, when Max’s dad Tie was with the Leafs.
That familiarity, the Leafs and Laughton hope, results in on-ice chemistry and success as the two play with each other on Toronto’s third line.
“I love the way he sees the ice,” Laughton said of Max. “He is always looking, he is a really smart player and he has some bite to him. He’s fun to play with. We’ll keep building our game and hopefully we stay together.”
He could have given himself a pass after a hectic and emotional day on Friday, but Laughton was critical on Saturday night of his own play in his Leafs debut in a 7-4 loss in Colorado against the Avalanche. He was on the ice for two goals against in the third period as the Avs pulled away.
“I self-evaluated the game and didn’t think I was good enough,” Laughton said. “I (have) better and can’t wait to show it, but it’s going to take some time to get used to linemates and everything like that.
“I’ve known Max for a long time so it’s nice to be able to talk on the bench.”
Leafs coach Craig Berube doesn’t expect perfection as Laughton and defenceman Brandon Carlo, acquired from the Boston Bruins, get accustomed to their new team. The thinking is Carlo will plenty of time to make it work in a pairing with Morgan Rielly.
“They’re comfortable with the guys already, just being around them,” Berube said. “That doesn’t take too long. Hockey players are kind of all the same — they welcome new people in very well and do a good job.
“On the ice, there is going to be some adjustment over time. I can’t give you a number on that, but it’s not going to happen overnight. It’s going to take a little bit of time for a guy like Carlo to form some chemistry with his partner, get comfortable with the systems. Same as Laughts.”
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ROBBIE NICKED
With the Leafs at near capacity in healthy forwards — only Max Pacioretty was hurt going into the game against the Utah Hockey Club — Berube has to sit players who might not deserve a spot in the press box.
On Monday night, it was Nick Robertson who was scratched as Calle Jarnkrok was back in.
“Nothing that Robbie did wrong, he has worked hard and has played some good hockey for us, but I have to make decisions,” Berube said. “They are hard decisions, they are not easy decisions.
“Players have to get scratched, don’t play, sometimes it’s warranted, sometimes it’s not. It’s just about lineups and what we think is going to give us the best chance to win. It’s always difficult.”
After recording five points in a four-game span, Robertson didn’t have a point in the past three games, but Berube wasn’t displeased with the 23-year-old’s game.
“I think Robbie has been involved more physically and is being a tenacious hockey player,” Berube said. “If he is on the fourth line (as Robertson was in Colorado), that’s not an issue for me. He has the ability to put a puck in the net too.”
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LOOSE LEAFS
Defenceman Chris Tanev missed his sixth game in a row with an upper-body injury. “I can’t give you a time line right now (on Tanev’s return),” Berube said in a somewhat ominous update on Monday … Berube indicated that Anthony Stolarz will be in goal on Thursday when the Leafs play host to the Florida Panthers to begin a four-game home stand … Easton Cowan, who has the tag of Leafs’ best prospect to himself after Fraser Minten was sent to Boston in the Carlo trade, has gone on a tear for the London Knights. In the past five games, Cowan has 13 points (six goals and seven assists). On Sunday in a 9-0 road win against the Sarnia Sting, Cowan had his first four-point game of 2024-25 (and second of his Ontario Hockey League career), recording four assists … Laughton on the similarities between Berube and Flyers coach John Tortorella: “Both are players’ coaches. Their door is always open. You can go in and talk to them about what’s going on. They want to play hard and straightforward and it fits my game perfectly. I loved playing for Torts and I loved playing for Chief back in the day (when Berube was on the Flyers coaching staff).”
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