Darren Dreger Reports Major Trade News Involving Brayden Schenn and Scott Laughton
NHL Insider Darren Dreger revealed some vital information regarding two of Toronto's potential trade targets in Brayden Schenn and Scott Laughton.
With the trade deadline quickly approaching, we are reaching a critical time where teams have only a few days left to make some big moves in order to shore up roster holes, add injury insurance, and prepare themselves for a hopefully long Cup run.
Toronto is expected to be a very active team and have been linked to about a dozen names. Two prominent ones have been St. Louis' Brayden Schenn and Philadelphia's Scott Laughton.
Both would add some much needed offensive and defensive help to Toronto's bottom six and could be the key to push them over the top.
According to NHL Insider Darren Dreger, it seems that the Maple Leafs will have a much better chance to land Laughton than the highly coveted Schenn.
It seems that St. Louis' chances to pull in a Western Conference playoff spot isn't as dead in the water as first thought and if they think they can make a push; Schenn is going to be a pick part of it.
So is it a good idea to forget about him altogether and focus on Laughton?
Scott Laughton Plan B For Toronto Maple Leafs Is A Good Backup Plan
Sure, he doesn't bring the same level of playoff experience or winning that Schenn does, nor does he have that familiarity with Craig Berube's system, but it doesn't mean he won't succeed there.
Laughton is a no-nonsense type of player who plays a strong two-way game, wins face-offs, kills penalties and scores. While he's not going to offer you 25+ goals, he does provide a reliable 12-15 per season.
This season, Laughton has 11 goals and 16 assists in 58 games while adding 32 blocks, 121 hits and winning 49.7% of his face-offs.
He also won't kill your entire farm system and it's likely Toronto now gets to keep both Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten.
They can afford to part with however many picks it takes to satisfy Daniel Briere, and should not hesitate to pay a little bit extra in terms of picks (not prospects) for him.
Laughton is also a cheaper option than Schenn and only costs $3M for this season and the next; a bargain considering the rising cap next season.
It's not the blockbuster deal that fans are expecting but for Treliving it's one of the right choices.
The Blues are one point back of Calgary for the second wild-card spot and are tied with the Canucks with 64 points, so a playoff spot isn't out of the realm of possibility, so Toronto would need to pay a fortune to convince them otherwise, and that's not worth it.
So they need to shift gears and look at Scott Laughton. He's not the assets they really want, but he's certainly someone they need.
| POLL | ||
11 HOURS AGO | 209 ANSWERS Darren Dreger Reports Major Trade News Involving Brayden Schenn and Scott Laughton Who should the Maple Leafs trade for? | ||
