Brooks Laich returns to Verizon Center in a different jersey

Brooks Laich wears blue now. (Claus Andersen/Getty Images)Brooks Laich’s phone was off on Sunday night, watching the Oscars with his fiancée, Julianne Hough. Washington Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan left a voicemail, but Laich didn’t ultimately get it until later that evening. Hough got a Capitals alert on her phone with the news that Laich had been traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“You’re surprised, you’re shocked,” Laich said on Wednesday morning. “I had never asked for a trade. I had conveyed my thoughts to him, I had spoken to him and spoken with the coaching staff and said that I wanted to be part of it. I wanted to make a [Stanley] Cup run, so it was definitely surprising…