Wednesday FTB: The morning after the win before

Insider Trading: Quinn Hughes, Mitch Marner battling injuries before 4 Nations | TSN

TSN ‘s Hockey Insiders discuss some key injuries going into the 4 Nations, the Flames’ interest in Dylan Cozens, the Sabres still reeling from the hit on Tage Thompson and their lack of response, the Canucks’ search for a centre, who benefits the most from a surging salary cap and Pavel Bure asking a fellow IIHF council member to reinstate Russia.

TSNTSN.ca Staff

They reported that Marner's lower-body injury is not thought to be very serious, and is something undisclosed from the Edmonton game.

I just stumbled upon this, so is Alex Kerfoot usually the 1C? That can't be.

More vague talk about Hamilton getting an AHL team.

Is The AHL Returning To Hamilton?

During the game last night, the intermission panel talked about the possibility (again this year) of the Leafs getting Scott Laughton from the Flyers.

Laughton, who seems to have been around forever, is only 30 – he turns 31 in a couple of months. He is a left-shooting centre around six feet and 200 lbs. He's also from Oakville and played for the Toronto Marlboros as a kid, which is enough to get him in trade rumours, even if he wasn't a centre.

He was drafted by the Flyers 20th overall in 2012 and has played his entire career in the Flyers' organization. Which is a thing to consider. He's been in trade rumours for years and is still with the Flyers. He actually played his first five games there when current GM Daniel Briere was still on the team.

When he plays a full season, he scores at a good bottom six rate of 15+ goals. Laughton has one more year on a $3million AAV contract after this year with no trade protection.

Now for the importantest bit. Can he do faceoffs (he's not a righty, though)? Since 2020, he's at 1,718 wins and 1,804 losses, so he's okay. No John Tavares. He's scored just slightly under Expected over that same period, making him the most common NHL goal-scorer – average. He shoots at a medium rate – like a middle or bottom sixer.

Now, if you look at impact stats or charts or player cards or whatever, beware that he had a really horrifying year last season, and it's bending the results. As recently as 2023, he was a meaningful driver of possession, and this season, he is at least as good as most of the Leafs' bottom six. And remember, making an impact on the Flyers is tough because the material a player has to work with is pretty bad.

So is he better than Domi? That's apples and monkeys or iron and oranges. There just isn't really a meaningful way to make that comparison. He's actually an appropriate centre for how the bottom six plays and Domi isn't. Is he better than Kämpf. Maaaaybe. He'll score more, but that's not a full answer. I have some long thoughts about Kämpf and Holmberg which can wait until the break, but he might play the third line role better is what I'll say now.

One issue against him is that his defensive impacts are generally about xG, not shot volume against, and the Leafs have this big shots against problem. But his profile fits with Lorentz and Dewar pretty well, and McMann and Domi as a winger could also fit with him potentially.

I feel like I'm shopping for a dishwasher here. It's not all that much fun, but you still have to read all the reviews to get a good one. He's not a Miele or even a Bosch, but if you can get him for open box price on Best Buy...

That's all for today, but I'm sure there will be more trades and trade rumours before too long.