Tortorella urges Toronto to be patient with new Leaf Laughton
Published
The Maple Leafs (optional) and Philadelphia Flyers skated at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
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Scott Laughton will face his old team for the first time on Tuesday night.
"I’m looking at the pre-scout and I’m in some of the clips," the Leafs forward said. "So, definitely a little weird."
It's been a weird couple of days. The Philadelphia Flyers arrived in Toronto on Sunday night and moved into the same Toronto hotel where Laughton is temporarily staying.
"I got a room pretty close to Torts," Laughton said with a grin.
"He’s next to me," Flyers coach John Tortorella revealed to laughs. "I said, 'Stay in your room, I'll stay in mine. I don’t even want to see ya.'"
The truth is Tortorella and Laughton, who was drafted by the Flyers in 2012, caught up on Monday and again on Tuesday morning.
"I know in talking to him he’s trying to keep his head down and trying to fit in," Tortorella said. "When he would walk into the locker room in Philly he would take it over. There’s an adjustment period for him. I hope people are patient with him because it’s a huge adjustment, but you’re going to find out what he’s about eventually here."
Laughton struggled to name just one favourite memory from his time in Philadelphia because there are too many.
"I grew up in Philly and we had our baby there," the 30-year-old said. "It’s always going to be part of us and part of our home for sure. Probably keep our place there and go back there throughout our adult life. It’s always going to be home for me. It’s emotional when you go through a big change like that."
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Laughton has failed to hit the scoresheet in eight games with the Leafs. He's been on the ice for 10 goals against and only one goal for.
Facing the Flyers provides the Oakville, Ont. native with a great opportunity to turn the page and find some closure.
"I expect Laughty to come out of with a lot of energy tonight," said Flyers forward Travis Konecny. "He’s got a lot of pride. Even though it was very difficult seeing him go, he’s going to be wanting to stick it to us tonight, so we’ll be ready to go."
Laughton and Konecny both enjoy getting into it on the ice physically and verbally.
"I’m ready for him," Laughton promised. "I’ve always been ready for him. We’re always going after each other in the room anyways."
"I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of back-and-forth chatter," Konecny agreed. "We got years of going back and forth. If you saw us day to day you would think we don’t like each other and we’re good buddies."
Laughton served as an alternate captain in Philadelphia with Tortorella calling him a "foundation guy" who is the glue of the dressing room.
"It’s going to take the whole summer to regroup and get the whole team back to normal," Konecny said. "He’s been a staple in the locker room ever since I’ve been here. He’s got a huge personality. He runs everything as far as getting the guys together and just music in the locker room so you put a major hole in the team aspect … We’re really missing him."
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Laughton's usual number, 21, is retired in Toronto for Borje Salming so he had to choose a new one. After Connor Dewar was traded away by the Leafs on deadline day, No. 24 opened up and Laughton jumped on it.
"I was going to go 49, my old training camp number, but once this opened up, there’s a couple guys who have worn it here," Laughton explained.
Wayne Simmonds, a former Flyers teammate, wore No. 24 in Toronto. And good buddy Nick Seeler wears it in Philadelphia.
"Seels is one of my favourite players," Laughton said. "I’m going to stay away from him tonight, though."
Seeler calls Laughton "one of the best teammates I ever had" and appreciated the number gesture.
"I saw that," the Flyers defenceman said. "I texted him and said '2-4 horse.' It’s nice to see that ... It will be weird. He’s been a Flyer for so long. I’ve been with him for four years. He’s a competitor. We’re both competitors. I’m sure he’ll play extra hard against us."
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The Flyers are 1-9-1 since March 2 when the deadline drama hit a fever pitch around the rebuilding side.
"We have a different lineup," Tortorella said of the dressing room upheaval. "S--t’s going to happen. We just gotta keep on playing, go about our business."
Philadelphia has dropped to 15th in the Eastern Conference and 28th overall in the NHL.
"Just trying to get through it, just trying to get to the finish line, because there’s nothing coming for us after April 17th, but I want us to concentrate on trying to get there," Tortorella said. "I’ve changed my coaching. I’ve changed the style of play based on our lineup. We’re all trying to do it with dignity, do it the right way, get to the end and then see where we go as an organization after that."
The Leafs have won both games against the Flyers this season, but both were one-goal games in early January, including one that went to overtime.
"They’re going to give everything they got," said Leafs coach Craig Berube. "All John Tortorella teams play hard and compete hard and they’re coming with pressure."
Tortorella is hoping a trip to Toronto will provide a boost of energy as his team looks to salvage a win on their five game road trip (0-3-1).
"I hope that gives us some juice," the veteran bench boss said. "I hope we can rebound and play a little bit more [and] have our concentration level higher than we did against Chicago."
The Flyers fell 7-4 on Sunday in Chicago against the 31st-place Blackhawks.
"It’s always fun playing here," Tortorella said. "I know they’re going to come tonight after the last game. I know they’ll be ready to play."
The Leafs squandered a 2-0 lead and fell 5-2 against the 30th-place Predators on Saturday night in Nashville. After that game, John Tavares said the Leafs should feel "pissed off" about the performance.
"Yeah, I agree with that," Berube said. "It’s a learning lesson, in my opinion, that you can’t get impatient in your game and get away from your game and that’s what we did in the second period and next thing you know you’re down 3-2. So, yeah, nobody’s happy about it."
"We got a short memory around here," said third-line centre Max Domi. "You have to, especially at this time of year, but of course when you’re coming off a game like that it’s going to fuel you. So, that will be the positive we’ll take away from it."
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The Leafs held an optional skate on Tuesday morning with only two players expected to see game action (centre David Kampf and goalie Anthony Stolarz) choosing to take the ice.
The previous optional skate last Wednesday, before a game against the Colorado Avalanche, featured no regulars on the ice.
Berube pointed out that the Leafs have travelled a lot since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
"We had a good practice yesterday, 30 minutes or more, and pretty good pace out there, so I don’t think there’s any need for anyone to go on the ice this morning," the coach said. "We’re going to need the energy tonight in the game."
The Leafs ended last week by playing three games in three cities (Toronto, New York and Nashville) over four days. They will hit the road again on Wednesday as they fly to California.. Toronto will play three games in four nights starting on Thursday in San Jose.
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It's been a tricky transition for Laughton, but Toronto's other big deadline addition is earning rave reviews.
Brandon Carlo seems to be fitting in well on the team's second pair beside Morgan Rielly.
"His stick is insane," said Domi. "He can kill plays and close on plays pretty quick. He’s such a big body down low and he’s tough to get to the net on when you’re battling with him and in the corner. Also, the thing I didn’t realize is how good he is at breaking pucks out."
Mitch Marner also mentioned Carlo's stick in highlighting the 28-year-old's impact.
"He’s a big man out there," Marner said of the 6-foot-5 Carlo. "Controls the plays really well with just his stick, where he directs plays to go when he’s on the defensive side of the puck. I think you know where he’s going to be in a lot of spots, which is just easy and nice to have. He’s adjusted very well as well."
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Projected Leafs lineup for Tuesday's game:
Knies - Matthews - Marner
McMann - Tavares - Nylander
Laughton - Domi - Robertson
Lorentz - Kampf - Jarnkrok
McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Ekman-Larsson
Stolarz starts
Woll