Laughton, Carlo set for Leafs debuts against Avalanche
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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche held media availabilities at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday.
Newly-acquired centre Scott Laughton and right-shot defenceman Brandon Carlo will make their Toronto Maple Leafs debuts on Saturday night in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche.
Laughton, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday, will start on the third line between Bobby McMann and Max Domi.
"You got a passer with Max, you got McMann with speed and heaviness, and Laughton's an up-and-down centreman," said coach Craig Berube. "He does a good job in the middle of the ice. He could play centre or wing so I got a hybrid there with Max. We'll see how it goes."
"I got some food in me and a little bit of sleep and, yeah, really excited," said Laughton. "I think it's a cool moment and a lot of change, but really excited to kind of just jump right in and get going here."
Laughton grew up a Leafs fan in Oakville, Ont.
"To come here and to have all my family still at home and my parents in Oakville, it's a cool feeling," the 30-year-old said. "I just thought about my dad being able to drive down to my games and I think that's a pretty cool feeling. I'm really, really excited. It's good to come to a team like this, and such great talent here. To get a chance at the playoffs again is something that I wanted."
Veteran winger Calle Jarnkrok, who has played two games since returning from groin and hernia surgery, will be the odd man out up front.
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Carlo, who was acquired in a deal with the Boston Bruins on Friday, will pair up with Morgan Rielly.
"He's a stay-home D," Berube said. "He's been that way for a long time. He's played with a puck mover most of his career and he has that with Rielly so we'll see how it goes."
"I'm really excited to play with him," said Carlo. "I'll say that first and foremost. Playing against him, I love his playmaking ability. He's a guy that I would watch on the bench, try and learn things from, just the way he's pursuing pucks, going back in the D-zone, the way he's able to move it, and then just his offensive capability as well to kind of facilitate a lot of things along the blue line there. The way that he can move is pretty impressive. There's a lot to be learned from him and I hope we can create a good partnership."
Carlo, who is a native of Colorado Springs, Col., will have his dad in attendance on Saturday.
"I'm not sure if my mom will be here yet," the 28-year-old said. "She's trying to figure out if she needs to go to Boston to help with my kids or not, but I'll have a couple friends in town and it's really nice to be in Colorado for the first one."
Chris Tanev will miss a fifth straight game with an upper-body injury.
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Carlo travelled to Denver with new Avalanche centre Charlie Coyle, who was also traded by the Bruins on Friday.
"It was strange," said Carlo. "We even took different cars to the airport just because we didn't know which time each other was leaving. Texted him and he was on the same flight so we were right next to each other. Comforting in a way to be moving on with him as well. That was nice to have him as well to communicate with."
Coyle will make his debut with the Avalanche on Saturday.
"It's funny how it works sometimes," said Coyle. "He's your teammate, one of your good friends, and the next night you're playing against him, in the corners with him, and going at it. It kind of helped in a way. When things change like that, his family is home in Boston, my family is home in Boston, you kind of have that shared change, I guess, going on and you kind of talk through it together when we're in the airport and sitting on the plane together."
Laughton travelled to Denver with defenceman Erik Johnson, who was traded by the Flyers to the Avalanche on Friday. Johnson will be a healthy scratch on Saturday.
Brock Nelson, who was acquired from the New York Islanders on Thursday night, will also make his Avalanche debut on Saturday.
"We'll throw them right into the fire," said coach Jared Bednar of Nelson and Coyle.
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Former Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen was traded to the Dallas Stars on Friday.
"I'm happy for Mikko that he got signed and got a deal in a place where he obviously wanted to go or a destination where he felt comfortable to sign an eight-year deal," said Bednar. "He's a great teammate. He's been a great player for us and we were able to win together and I'll never forget that, but it's going to be tough playing Dallas. It makes Dallas better right away. We feel we've gotten better. It's going to be interesting. It would be a lot of fun playing against those guys if we're able to get there. Yeah, I wish him the best there, just not against us."
If the playoffs started today, the Stars and Avalanche would play each other.
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Anthony Stolarz gets the start in net for the Leafs on Saturday. Mackenzie Blackwood starts for the Avalanche.