Seeing their Atlantic rivals get stronger and stronger, Toronto finally made their move to prepare for the postseason.

The Leafs shipped a 2027 first round pick (top-10 protected) and Nikita Grebenkin to the Flyers in exchange for Scott Laughton (50% retained), a fourth round pick, and a sixth round pick. This is one of those moves that will have more of an impact in the real world than the realm of fantasy hockey.

The Leafs Receive: A gritty defensive center who hasn’t been in great form lately. Through 12 years in Philadelphia, Laughton's highest offensive output was a 45-point pace. That was a couple years ago when he was averaging 18 minutes a night. In recent seasons, he's settled into more of a depth role, averaging 15 minutes per game and scoring just below a 40-point pace. Those rostering Laughton rely more on his peripheral coverage than his offense though, as he averages 2.15 hits per game. He has value in leagues that track faceoffs, especially because you can play him as a winger in Yahoo formats. 

I imagine his new role in Toronto will be similar to the one he's held in Philly lately: around 15 minutes a night, with more shorthanded minutes than power-play minutes. He is set for an upgrade in linemates, though. After spending most of this season beside Ryan Poehling and Garnet Hathaway, he'll probably slot in beside Max Domi and Bobby McMann on Toronto's third line. Laughton is considered a better defensive player than Domi and will probably occupy the middle of the ice. From a fantasy perspective, moving to wing might allow Domi to focus more on offense, but would obviously leave him with fewer faceoff wins if your league tracks that stat.

Laughton may have fallen out of favour in Philly, where he was having a rough season defensively, but he could be more motivated playing for his hometown team in Toronto. The Leafs are in win-now mode, so he's more valuable to the roster than a late first rounder two years from now. With the Flyers retaining salary, Laughton's modest $1.5 million cap hit for another two seasons isn't hard to stomach at all. When he's on his game, Laughton's gritty playstyle seems ideal for the playoffs. Last time he played in the postseason, back in 2019-20, he posted a solid nine points in 15 games.

The Flyers Receive: A young player with offensive upside who needs more time to develop. A fifth round pick in 2022, 21-year-old Nikita Grebenkin has shown some promise in the AHL with 21 points in 39 games this season. That hasn't translated to any offense in his seven NHL games, but he was also averaging less than nine minutes a night. Although he has a fair bit of offensive ability, he probably needs some more time to develop before he's ready to have an impact in fantasy leagues. The Flyers also shipped out Andrei Kuzmenko Friday (Fantasy Take here), so it’ll be interesting to see what their lines look like going forward.