Laughton was shuffled around the lineup down the stretch, but it wasn’t until Game 81 of the season where he found a home on a line with Steven Lorentz and Calle Jarnkrok. Berube used them against Ottawa’s second line of Dylan Cozens, Drake Batherson, and David Perron when he had last change at home, and along with the top line, they weren’t tinkered with at any point. They played to a Corsi-for rating of 53.85% and combined for 44 hits in six games, showing Berube that he could be comfortable using them in any situation.

If there was one thing that felt ~different~ about this iteration of the Maple Leafs in the playoffs, it was their ability to keep things grounded when a bounce went the other way. Adversity is a term you’ll hear tossed around lots in the postseason, and perhaps the greatest example of this was the goal that Stolarz allowed in the third period of Game 6 to tie things up. It was a flukey bounce shot by Perron that went off of Stolarz’s mask and in, described by the goaltender himself as an effect of getting too ‘horny’ with the poke check, and it had the entirety of the team’s fanbase on the edges of their seats. It was the exact type of goal that would rattle this team and give the momentum to their opponent on a platter, but it took less than two minutes for the Leafs to get it back.

Laughton may not have been involved in that go-ahead goal, but he’s the type of player that excels in moments like that. He knows his role, he shows up and puts in work regardless of the situation. Philadelphia Flyers GM Daniel Brière knows this as well as anybody, and admitted it wasn’t an easy decision to move on from him despite the return.

It’s important to remember that nobody reading this article, provided you didn’t play in the NHL, understands what it’s like to be traded. Let alone from the only team you ever knew, having spent 11 years there and all of a sudden being faced with the pressure of joining a team with more eyes on them than anybody. Factor in having to learn a completely new system with the expectation that you hit the ground running even though it’s the middle of the season and everything is in full swing. Although a seamless transition would have been a pleasant surprise, to expect it to be that easy was a recipe for disappointment.

But we’re not at that stage anymore. Laughton is settled in with his new team, he’s playing with two linemates that he has chemistry with, and he’s contributing to wins. His teammates and head coach likely won’t care if he’s not lighting up the scoresheet so long as he’s contributing in other areas of the game, and if he can find a way to score a goal or two in the second round against the Florida Panthers, he’ll only continue to grow his value and show his new fanbase why they paid the price they did for him.