Insider drops a bombshell and reveals that the Leafs were close to trading for Flyers center semi-recently

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman touched on the Laughton trade rumours on his most recent edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast on Monday, mentioning that the Leafs have a pre-existing interest in Laughton, but cautioned that some things have changed in Toronto, which might make a Laughton deal a little less likely. He did, however, mention that the Leafs did attempt to trade for him recently.

Friedman did state that he feels as though there are other suitors for Laughton out there, listing Ottawa as another possible landing spot. Dubas likely still has interest, but Friedman and Marek don't believe the Flyers and Penguins will come together on a trade there.

Interestingly enough, as we had shared earlier, Friedman had also reported that Nick Robertson is a player that Philly has liked in the past and that Robertson could be interested in a fresh start, so perhaps a deal centered around Robertson for Laughton could make sense for both sides. I don't know that this is a 1-for-1 type of deal, so there would likely be balancing pieces involved to make this deal a digestible one for both sides, were it to occur at all.