Brad Treliving wanted — and needed — to check at least two boxes ahead of Friday’s NHL trade deadline: a right-shooting defenceman to play in the top four and a third-line centre.
The Maple Leafs general manager checked one emphatically in Brandon Carlo and the other … well, that remains to be seen.
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The defenders who tend to click with Rielly — TJ Brodie, Schenn, Ron Hainsey — look a lot like Carlo. They play simple games and they defend hard, especially around the net. They free Rielly up to do Rielly things.
In some ways, then, this isn’t just a trade for Carlo. It’s a trade for Carlo and, theoretically, the best possible version of Rielly.
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The Leafs preferred Laughton to Yanni Gourde, a pending unrestricted free agent who went back to Tampa earlier in the week.
It doesn’t feel safe to assume that the Leafs have solved their third-line centre problem with Laughton. There are Alex Kerfoot/Max Domi vibes here in the sense that Laughton is one of those guys who can play centre but maybe shouldn’t.