Toronto Maple Leafs make it official for Scott Laughton

Scott Laughton is a player whom the Toronto Maple Leafs were eager to trade for last season. In fact, they gave up a first-round pick and Nikita Grebenkin for him.

So far, this trade has not worked out in the Leafs' favor. Laughton wasn't acclimated to the system at the end of last season, and his poor production reflected that.

As for this season, Laughton missed the first month of action with a lower-body injury. He subsequently came back for one game and some change, although he immediately got injured again.

After a hit to the head from Nikita Zadorov of the Boston Bruins on Saturday, Laughton has found himself out with a concussion, and it has forced the Leafs' hand.

On Thursday morning, the Leafs made it official for Laughton by placing the forward on the injured reserve. This is always hard to see, but it had to be done.

The move is retroactive to November 8th, and for now, it remains to be seen whether or not Laughton will be able to return in the coming days or if this is going to last a while.

When Laughton was in the lineup and the team was at full strength, they had their best game of the season against the Utah Mammoth.

Having said that, the season is still far from over, and there is still time for the team to improve and go on a run. Unfortunately, the 8-8-1 start has put them in a bit of a hole early on here.

At the end of the day, the entire team will simply have to band together and be better. Otherwise, this is only going to get worse, and the fans will only get more upset.

We will be watching this team closely tonight, especially as they look to play the Los Angeles Kings.