Having been dealt at the trade deadline last year, Brandon Carlo still believes in the Maple Leafs and wants to be part of their future.
CALGARY — It’s been a little under a year since the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Brandon Carlo from the Boston Bruins in exchange for forward Fraser Minten and a top-five protected pick. Since that time, Carlo’s name has again been floated around in trade rumors.
Now that all signs point to the Maple Leafs going through a re-tool rather than an all-in approach down the stretch, Carlo’s value could certainly be high to another team looking to add a right-handed veteran shutdown defenseman.
Carlo remembers what it was like when he was with the Bruins before ultimately being dealt and is drawing on that to deal with the latest round of speculation.
“I think it's just recognizing the things that are in your control and the things that aren't,” Carlo told The Hockey News on Monday. “So for me, I'm just trying to focus on finding things that are within my control. And outside of that, that's where all the suffering and the anxiety kind of comes from. As long as I'm just trying to stay close, present, and focus on the things that I can do, that's all I can really do. And then everything else that happens is up to just me. So just try to ride that storm. It's not easy by any means. It's going to be on your mind in time for sure”.
During Carlo’s time with Toronto, he’s been a bit of a stabilizer for Morgan Rielly, who has struggled this season. Now that it’s been revealed that Rielly has been dealing with a lingering upper-body issue that will shut him down through the Olympic break, Carlo will be leaned on more. But that will also further showcase the 29-year-old to prospective teams interested in acquiring a player who already comes with a reduced cap hit of $3.485 million through the 2026-27 season (Leafs retained 15 percent).
If Toronto retains even more, that could certainly help the Leafs stock up on a good haul for the future. All of that said, Carlo is happy in Toronto and his preference would be to stay.
“I've really enjoyed it. I know it hasn't gone as great this year with the team and things like that. But I think we have a really good group in here,” Carlo said. “I don't think we're far off. I've seen our group play the way that we can play. I love the role that I have here. I felt comfortable coming in and I feel like I'm starting to gain my ground off the ice from just being a little bit more vocal on certain things, so I would definitely like to stay”.
It’s a bit of a catch-22 in dealing Carlo. If Toronto is just going to do a bit of a re-tool, losing a dedicated right-handed defensive defenseman of the caliber of Carlo is tough to replace. Carlo missed 23 games this season due to an ankle injury that needed a corrective procedure. The defenseman says the issue is far past him, other than it gets a bit sore after games. Carlo is sure to be a name to watch closely, but it’s clear the defenseman doesn’t want to move again
In 32 games with the Leafs this season, Carlo has four assists while averaging 19:35 of ice time. He'll skate with Jake McCabe against the Flames in the absence of Rielly.