The Toronto Maple Leafs have struggled as hard as the next team over the past few weeks, and it hasn’t been made easier by the fact that it’s coming in the days leading up to and following the NHL Trade Deadline.

The Leafs made a couple of pretty big moves much to the surprise of lots, starting with the acquisition of forward Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers and ending with a deal for defenceman Brandon Carlo from the Boston Bruins. While Carlo found his footing with the team rather quickly after a rough start, Laughton has yet to record a point in four games. He skated up the middle on the third line for each of these games, but with the Leafs’ losses starting to pile up and little coming from their add up front, Laughton was moved to the fourth line ahead of Monday’s game against the Calgary Flames.

Head coach Craig Berube explained his reasoning for the line shuffle, implying that it wasn’t so much an indictment on Laughton’s play but rather a desire to get some familiarity with a line that worked in the past.

“Just the success that we’ve had [with Bobby McMann, Max Domi, and Nick Robertson]…and then I wanted to create a line of Laughton, Lorentz, and Jarnkrok,” Berube said. “Just more of an identity line. A checking line.”

While the line of Domi, McMann, and Robertson having seen success in the past, it added some context to a lineup decision that was met with some grief from fans at first. Laughton has been looking more and more comfortable each game, but that can be accelerated by putting him on a line with a strong sense of identity, something that’s lacked in the Leafs’ lineup this season.

Meanwhile, you have a line of guys who should all be contributing to the team’s secondary scoring offence, and albeit inconsistently, it has worked in the past. Getting Laughton into a comfortable role and giving that third line trio a chance to recoup some of the magic from previous games this season could help them when their offence needs it badly, as much as it might raise a red flag if Laughton was that sheltered come playoff time.

The Leafs’ tilt against the Flames gets underway at 7:30 pm eastern and can be viewed on Amazon Prime.

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