Youth Growing up in Oakville, Ontario, Laughton attended the Holy Family Elementary School and Holy Trinity High School while captaining the
Toronto Marlboros Minor Midget AAA of the
Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL). While playing for the team, he named
Jarome Iginla and
Steven Stamkos as his role models and inspiration. In his final season with the Marlboros, Laughton also skated in two games with the
St. Michael's Buzzers of the
Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL). He concluded the 2009–10 GTHL season with 55
goals and 40
assists in 76 games for the Marlboros. In his rookie season with the Generals, Laughton skated in 63 games and accumulated 12 goals with 11 assists as the team qualified for the 2011 OHL playoffs. During the postseason, Laughton recorded one goal and one assist over 10 games as the Generals fell to the
Niagara IceDogs. and a ranking of 40th amongst all North American skaters in the
NHL Central Scouting Bureau's mid-season rankings. In spite of his strong season, the Generals failed to qualify past the first round of the 2012 OHL playoffs, losing to the IceDogs in six games. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Flyers on August 8, 2012, but returned to the OHL for the
2012–13 season. He was suspended twice during the season, resulting in him only playing 49 games. Upon coming back from his 10-game suspension, Laughton said "I want to finish every check, I think I did that (in Sunday's return) and I don't want to stray away from my game at all." His second multi-game suspension of the season occurred on April 8, 2013, following a hit on Zach Hall of the
Barrie Colts. In spite of this, Laughton recorded a career-high 56 points over 49 games to conclude the season. After going pointless in five games with the Flyers, Laughton was reassigned to the OHL where he competed in the 2013 OHL playoffs and recorded 13 points in seven games. Following their second round elimination, he was promoted to the Flyers'
American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the
Adirondack Phantoms, for the remainder of the season. Following the Flyers' training camp for the
2013–14 season, Laughton was loaned back to the
Oshawa Generals of the OHL after failing to remain with the NHL club to start the season. When reflecting on his training camp experience, he admitted to feeling overconfident and did not "play to his ability." In his first game back in the OHL on October 3, 2013, Laughton recorded four points in an eventual 7–1 win over the
Peterborough Petes. He continued to have a breakout season and recorded 24 goals and 26 assists in 29 games by December, earning him the captaincy title for Canada under-20 team at the
2013 World Junior Championships. He ended the season as the second-leading scorer for the Generals as Oshawa finished first in the OHL's East Division and reached the Eastern Conference finals. Flyers head coach
Craig Berube later said that choosing to reassign Laughton to the OHL "helped him" and called him "one of the best players in all of junior hockey." in 2015 Laughton was invited to the Flyers' training camp prior to the
2014–15 season, but was reassigned to their new AHL affiliate, the
Lehigh Valley Phantoms, on October 1, 2014, after being a healthy scratch for one game. To begin his first full professional season, Laughton was recognized with the CCM/AHL Player of the Week award after recording four goals in two games during the week ending on October 19. He was recalled to the NHL on December 3, and recorded his first career NHL goal 10 days later during a 5–1 win over the
Carolina Hurricanes on December 13. Laughton split the rest of the season between the AHL and the NHL, recording 27 points over 39 games for the Phantoms and six points in 31 NHL games. For the third time in his NHL career, Laughton made the Flyers' opening night roster prior to the
2015–16 season. He played in 71 games for the Flyers in a bottom six role and recorded seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points. Following his shortened postseason berth, Laughton returned to the Flyers during their 2016 preseason games but suffered a lower-body injury and was expected to miss three to four weeks at the beginning of the
2016–17 season. He was then reassigned to the Phantoms for the majority of the season, but was protected by the Flyers in the
2017 NHL expansion draft. In the final year of his contract, Laughton continued to fill the role of a third and fourth line centre and
penalty killer for the Flyers. Playing in his sixth professional season, he set a new career-high in goals, assists, and points over 82 games, the first full season in his NHL career. He spent the majority of his playing time alongside
Taylor Leier,
Michael Raffl or
Jordan Weal, and ended the season with the team's third-best possession numbers. As a free agent at the conclusion of the season, the Flyers re-signed Laughton to a two-year, $4.6 million contract worth $2.3 million annually on July 12, 2019. Laughton suffered a broken finger on his right hand at the start of the
2019–20 season during the second period of a 7–4 win over the
Columbus Blue Jackets, and was expected to miss four weeks. He was activated off injured reserve nearly a month later on November 22, 2019, following surgery to repair his finger. Following his return, he suffered a groin injury in December, which sidelined him for seven more games. In spite of his slow start due to injury, the 2019–20 season proved to be successful, with a new career-high in goals set with 13 for a total of 27 points through 49 games. He played on the third, fourth, and second line throughout the shortened season while averaging 14:36 of ice time per game. The team rewarded his efforts by gifting him the team's 2020
Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy as the team's most improved player. of the
Seattle Kraken in 2023. When the NHL returned to play after being delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Laughton and the Flyers faced off against the
Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the
2020 Stanley Cup playoffs as the first
seed in the
Eastern Conference after winning the round-robin qualifying tournament. During the series, he played on a line with
Kevin Hayes and
Travis Konecny. Laughton recorded a two-goal and one assist game on August 6, to send the Canadiens on the brink of elimination. They pushed past the Canadiens the following game to qualify for the second round of the playoffs against the
New York Islanders. As they faced elimination against the Islanders by game five, Laughton helped the team recover from a lost lead and recorded the overtime game-winning goal off an assist from Konecny. It was his second point of the night and first overtime goal (playoff or regular season) in his career. As a result, Laughton became the sixth player in franchise history to score an overtime goal to keep the team in the series. During the next game, he recorded the game-tying shorthanded goal in the third period in an eventual 5–4 overtime win to send the series to the seventh game. In game seven Laughton recorded a fight and six hits in a 4–0
shutout loss to the Islanders. On February 7, 2021, Laughton recorded his first career
hat trick in a 7–4 win against the
Washington Capitals, with goals on
Vítek Vaněček and
Craig Anderson. On the last day of the NHL trade deadline, Laughton signed a five-year, $15 million contract extension with the Flyers. On December 12, 2024, Laughton recorded a four-goal game in a 4–1 win against the
Detroit Red Wings. On March 7, 2025, Laughton was traded to the
Toronto Maple Leafs along with two draft picks in exchange for
Nikita Grebenkin and a conditional 2027 first-round pick. On March 6th 2026, Laughton was traded from the Maple Leafs to the
Los Angeles Kings, in exchange for a conditional
2026 third-round pick ==International play==