<p>All eyes are on Toronto Maple Leafs forward <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/is-scott-laughton-time-to-shine-toronto-maple-leafs-on-way">Scott Laughton</a> as he faces the Philadelphia Flyers for the first time. Laughton spent the first decade of his career with the Flyers, before being <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/instant-reaction-trade-grades-toronto-maple-leafs-philadelphia-flyers-win-deal-scott-laughton">traded to the Maple Leafs at the deadline</a> and for the 30-year-old centre, it won&#8217;t be any ordinary March regular season contest.</p>
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<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s going to be different. Looking at the pre-scout and I&#8217;m in some of the clips, so definitely a little weird,&#8221; Laughton said Tuesday morning.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think the way they play kind of explains itself, a really hard-working team that plays simple, so I think there will be a couple of questions throughout the day about them.&#8221;</p>
<p>Laughton also is ready to take on Flyers star Travis Konecny, who is known to irritate opponents with his on-ice commentary.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m ready for him, I&#8217;ve always been ready. We&#8217;re always going after each other in the room, anyways. There&#8217;s a lot of good people over there,&#8221; Laughton said.</p>
<p>Flyers head coach John Tortorella he&#8217;s staying in the next room over from Laughton and jokingly instructed the Maple Leafs&#8217; centre to stay in his room.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the first time you go through it, so it&#8217;s a lot different. It&#8217;s a whirlwind going on the road and then being in the hotel again. Being in the same place, having that comfortability with everyone in the room, things like that. These guys have been great with me, but it&#8217;s different. It&#8217;s different growing up here. Just your day-to-day routine is a lot different,&#8221; Laughton said, while noting that his wife, Chloe, and his son, Reed have joined him in Toronto.</p>
<p>Laughton also spoke about the experience of being traded for the first time in his career and his love for the city of Philadelphia.</p>
<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t know I was going to get moved but I thought there was a a bigger chance than the years previous. I had those conversations with Chloe and kind of talked through it about the potential (places) where we could go, what could happen. It&#8217;s emotional. Any time you have a big change like that, I grew up in Philly. Had our baby there, so it&#8217;s always going to be part of us, and our home for sure. We&#8217;ll probably keep our place there and go back there through our adult lives.&#8221;</p>
<p>Although it&#8217;ll be an emotional experience for Laughton squaring off his against his former comrades, it&#8217;s just Game 71 for Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube.</p>
<p>&#8220;A lot for him, for sure. He was there a long time. There&#8217;s always going to be emotions for him, individually, playing his old team. Our guys will be ready to go,&#8221; Berube said of Laughton&#8217;s mindset going into the game.</p>
<p>Tortorella also downplayed the significance of Tuesday&#8217;s game, lauding Laughton for his character, and the positive effect he had on his Flyers, while noting that several players were struggling to adjust to his absence.</p>
<p>&#8220;When you start playing, you&#8217;re playing. I had a chance to see him this morning, I talked to him yesterday. It&#8217;s one of the greatest things you take out of the game, is when you&#8217;re done, retired, whatever it may be, a player leaves, you&#8217;ll always have that relationship,&#8221; Tortorella said Tuesday. &#8220;He&#8217;s just full of the glue of a locker room. I think that&#8217;s really important, especially where we&#8217;re at as an organization and trying to build, to have that foundation guy, to understand the small things before you get on the ice, to help transport that over to our younger guys, I thought he was very important that way. It&#8217;s hard for him. I know it&#8217;s been a little bit of an adjustment for him here.</p>
<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve been with one organization for your whole career, drafted, all that, and going through all the crap we&#8217;ve gone through there. I know in talking to him, he&#8217;s just trying to keep his head down and try to fit in, where he&#8217;d walk into the locker room in Philly, he&#8217;d take it over. It&#8217;s been an adjustment period and I hope people are patient with him, because it&#8217;s a huge adjustment for him, but you&#8217;re going to find out what he&#8217;s about eventually.&#8221;</p>
<p>Laughton hasn&#8217;t registered a point in eight games with the Maple Leafs, was dropped to the fourth line for two games, and is now expected to play on the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-practice-notes-laughton-pacioretty-jarnkrok">third line as a left winger</a>, alongside Max Domi and Nick Robertson. There <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/why-too-early-toronto-maple-leafs-panic-scott-laughton">has been a demand for immediate returns</a>, on the defensive side of the puck particularly, and the Maple Leafs sport a -5 goal differential along with a 35.6 percent share of the expected goals when Laughton has been on the ice at 5-on-5, via <a href="https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerreport.php?fromseason=20242025&amp;thruseason=20242025&amp;playerid=8476872&amp;sit=5v5&amp;stype=2">Natural Stat Trick</a>. With the Maple Leafs boasting Stanley Cup aspirations, Laughton&#8217;s every shift is being monitored, but there&#8217;s an expectation that he can slot in as a third-line centre with plus-defence before the playoffs begin.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s an important night in Laughton&#8217;s career, but it&#8217;s just another day for Berube and Tortorella. Perhaps a game against friends turned foes could unlock a stellar game for Laughton and get him on the right track with the Maple Leafs.</p>
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All eyes are on Toronto Maple Leafs forward <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/is-scott-laughton-time-to-shine-toronto-maple-leafs-on-way">Scott Laughton</a> as he faces the Philadelphia Flyers for the first time. Laughton spent the first decade of his career with the Flyers, before being <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/instant-reaction-trade-grades-toronto-maple-leafs-philadelphia-flyers-win-deal-scott-laughton">traded to the Maple Leafs at the deadline</a> and for the 30-year-old centre, it won't be any ordinary March regular season contest.
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"It's going to be different. Looking at the pre-scout and I'm in some of the clips, so definitely a little weird," Laughton said Tuesday morning.

"I think the way they play kind of explains itself, a really hard-working team that plays simple, so I think there will be a couple of questions throughout the day about them."

Laughton also is ready to take on Flyers star Travis Konecny, who is known to irritate opponents with his on-ice commentary.

"I'm ready for him, I've always been ready. We're always going after each other in the room, anyways. There's a lot of good people over there," Laughton said.

Flyers head coach John Tortorella he's staying in the next room over from Laughton and jokingly instructed the Maple Leafs' centre to stay in his room.

"It's the first time you go through it, so it's a lot different. It's a whirlwind going on the road and then being in the hotel again. Being in the same place, having that comfortability with everyone in the room, things like that. These guys have been great with me, but it's different. It's different growing up here. Just your day-to-day routine is a lot different," Laughton said, while noting that his wife, Chloe, and his son, Reed have joined him in Toronto.

Laughton also spoke about the experience of being traded for the first time in his career and his love for the city of Philadelphia.

"I didn't know I was going to get moved but I thought there was a a bigger chance than the years previous. I had those conversations with Chloe and kind of talked through it about the potential (places) where we could go, what could happen. It's emotional. Any time you have a big change like that, I grew up in Philly. Had our baby there, so it's always going to be part of us, and our home for sure. We'll probably keep our place there and go back there through our adult lives."

Although it'll be an emotional experience for Laughton squaring off his against his former comrades, it's just Game 71 for Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube.

"A lot for him, for sure. He was there a long time. There's always going to be emotions for him, individually, playing his old team. Our guys will be ready to go," Berube said of Laughton's mindset going into the game.

Tortorella also downplayed the significance of Tuesday's game, lauding Laughton for his character, and the positive effect he had on his Flyers, while noting that several players were struggling to adjust to his absence.

"When you start playing, you're playing. I had a chance to see him this morning, I talked to him yesterday. It's one of the greatest things you take out of the game, is when you're done, retired, whatever it may be, a player leaves, you'll always have that relationship," Tortorella said Tuesday. "He's just full of the glue of a locker room. I think that's really important, especially where we're at as an organization and trying to build, to have that foundation guy, to understand the small things before you get on the ice, to help transport that over to our younger guys, I thought he was very important that way. It's hard for him. I know it's been a little bit of an adjustment for him here.

"You've been with one organization for your whole career, drafted, all that, and going through all the crap we've gone through there. I know in talking to him, he's just trying to keep his head down and try to fit in, where he'd walk into the locker room in Philly, he'd take it over. It's been an adjustment period and I hope people are patient with him, because it's a huge adjustment for him, but you're going to find out what he's about eventually."

Laughton hasn't registered a point in eight games with the Maple Leafs, was dropped to the fourth line for two games, and is now expected to play on the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-practice-notes-laughton-pacioretty-jarnkrok">third line as a left winger</a>, alongside Max Domi and Nick Robertson. There <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/why-too-early-toronto-maple-leafs-panic-scott-laughton">has been a demand for immediate returns</a>, on the defensive side of the puck particularly, and the Maple Leafs sport a -5 goal differential along with a 35.6 percent share of the expected goals when Laughton has been on the ice at 5-on-5, via <a href="https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerreport.php?fromseason=20242025&amp;thruseason=20242025&amp;playerid=8476872&amp;sit=5v5&amp;stype=2">Natural Stat Trick</a>. With the Maple Leafs boasting Stanley Cup aspirations, Laughton's every shift is being monitored, but there's an expectation that he can slot in as a third-line centre with plus-defence before the playoffs begin.

It's an important night in Laughton's career, but it's just another day for Berube and Tortorella. Perhaps a game against friends turned foes could unlock a stellar game for Laughton and get him on the right track with the Maple Leafs.
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Leafs’ Laughton prepares for ‘different’ game vs. Flyers but it’s just another day for Berube, Tortorella

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