A Scott Laughton extension is in the cards for the Kings
A once-loaded class of unrestricted free agents for the summer of 2026 dwindled down to almost nothing over the course of the season.
A July 1 that could have once featured the likes of Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov and Jack Eichel all hitting the market at once, to name only a few, will now be headlined by players like Scott Laughton and Jason Dickinson at the center position.
Laughton, who spent the back end of the season with the Los Angeles Kings after coming over at the deadline from the Toronto Maple Leafs, brings some scoring ability to his main profile as an elite penalty killer and strong defensive presence down the middle.
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by NHL insider David Pagnotta to discuss the possibility of Laughton and the Kings extending their relationship beyond this season.
Tyler Yaremchuk: What about Scott Laughton and the LA Kings? I was looking, AFP Analytics updated their projections the other day, and like Jason Dickinson was a guy who they had projected to make $5 million bucks… People were like, ‘There’s no way, look at his offense…’ And I’m like, ‘Hey, this could be the summer of sticker shock.’ The centermen on the market, assuming Malkin goes back to Pittsburgh and all of that other stuff sorts itself out, the best centers on the market could be Dickinson and Laughton.
David Pagnotta: Yeah, right exactly. Kind of Boone Jenner because he can play the position too, but yeah those are your guys. Coyle’s re-upped in Columbus. These are the guys, and I believe before he was traded, I believe the number in the sweet spot was in and around $5 million per year on an extension. Toronto didn’t want to do it, they ended up moving him. I think that was around the time Bobby McMann also was in the $5.5 range… Laughton either has or will be meeting/talking to LA this week and trying to get a good indication as to what the direction of the team is. He likes it there. He’s gelled well with that group. I remember talking to him toward the end of the regular season. He was happy with where he was and the move, and he was impressed by the room as well. With Panarin there and Kopitar being a big part of that, obviously he’s not going to be there anymore, but it seemed like he gelled pretty nicely in that room, and they certainly liked him. They would like to keep him. I believe there’s mutual interest in getting something done. I just don’t know what the timeline on that is.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…