History

2009-10: Laughton was the captain for the Toronto Marlboros Midget AAA team in the Greater Toronto Hockey League and skated in two games for the St. Michael's Buzzers Tier II junior team. Laughton scored 55 goals with 40 assists and 109 penalty minutes in 76 games for the Marlboros. He was selected by the Oshawa Generals in the first round (3rd overall) of the OHL Priority Draft.

2010-11: Laughton skated in 63 games for Oshawa in his first OHL season and represented Ontario in the 2011 U17 World Hockey Challenge. Laughton scored 12 goals with 11 assists and was plus-5 with 58 penalty minutes on an Oshawa team that finished second in its division. The Generals reached the second round of the playoffs and in 10 playoff games Laughton scored 1 goal with 1 assist and was minus-2 with 11 penalty minutes. In five games at the WHC, he scored 2 goals with 2 assists and had 4 penalty minutes as Ontario captured the gold medal.

2011-12: Laughton had a strong second season in an otherwise disappointing season for the Generals and finished the year with an impressive performance for Team Canada at the 2012 U18 World Junior Championship. Laughton scored 21 goals with 32 assists and was plus-8 with 101 penalty minutes in 64 games for Oshawa. In the playoffs Laughton scored 2 goals with 3 assists and was minus-5 with 17 penalty minutes. The Generals lost to Niagara in a six-game, first-round playoff series. In seven games for bronze medal-winning Canada at the WJC, Laughton scored 2 goals with 5 assists and was plus-3 with 4 penalty minutes. One of the risers in Central Scouting's rankings, Laughton moved up twelve places from the mid-season list and was ranked 28th amongst North American skaters in the final rankings prior to the 2012 NHL Draft.


Talent Analysis

Laughton is two-way center whose primary skills are on the defensive side of the ledger. He is a hard-worker with a consistent approach to the game and plenty of smarts. Laughton is not a highly skilled player and it remains to be seen how he'll develop in this area, but he should be an effective third-line player with some potential for second-line duty.