Confirmed with Link: Leafs acquire Brandon Carlo (15% retention) for Fraser Minten, cond. 2026 1st round pick and a 2025 4th round pick

[Gary Nylund]

2. Our core players are pretty much the only ones that provide offense in the playoffs. They aren’t the problem. Last year against Boston illustrates this: holmberg 0 pts, Robertson 0 pts, jarnkrok 0 pts, kampf 1 pt, dewar 0 pts, reaves 1 pt. In 7 games!

Maybe you don't think Marner's 3 points in 7 games wasn't a problem, I sure as hell do. Lyubushkin got 3 points FFS, Domi got 4.

Marner, JT and to a lesser degree Matthews have not delivered for us in the playoffs, period.

 

[Puckstuff]

Sounds like Hal Gill 2.0 to a tee with a history of concussions………

Hal Gill isn't a good comparison, he was more bottom pair #6 D, at least in his later years when we had him. Carlo at least touched top pair for a little but, even if he's now more of a #4.

 

[Chiarelli]

Can someone explain how the condition on the 2026 1st works since they also traded their 2027 1st?

 

[Gary Nylund]

Hal Gill isn't a good comparison, he was more bottom pair #6 D, at least in his later years when we had him. Carlo at least touched top pair for a little but, even if he's now more of a #4.

Yeah I dunno how this Hal Gill stuff got started, just no.

 

[Gabriel426]

Agreed, you guys have needed a defense first guy for years and he'll give you that. Just that he isn't without his warts

I don’t think anyone is thinking we got the No.1 Dman in the league.

Carlo fills a need for us and I think we have a system for him that allows him to be at his best and hide his warts.

 

[Gabriel426]

Yeah I dunno how this Hal Gill stuff got started, just no.

Carlo is more like Muzzin with less offensive skills.

 

[Jozay]

Carlo is more like Muzzin with less offensive skills.

Carlo doesn’t have that physical, mean streak that Muzzin had

 

[Evilhomer]

Carlo doesn’t have that physical, mean streak that Muzzin had

He does share an injury history with Muzzin, so there's that.

 

[Gabriel426]

Carlo doesn’t have that physical, mean streak that Muzzin had

Muzzin wasn’t someone who hunts for hits like McCabe though.
Muzzin was someone who took care of stuff in the Dzone and hard to play against, which is what Carlo does.

 

[rumman]

Hal Gill isn't a good comparison, he was more bottom pair #6 D, at least in his later years when we had him. Carlo at least touched top pair for a little but, even if he's now more of a #4.

Gill was a top four D man for the majority of his career…….

 

[rumman]

Yeah I dunno how this Hal Gill stuff got started, just no.

Gill was a good D man long before he became a Leaf, but most don’t know anything that’s not Leaf specific…….

 

[OVO16]

Carlo is a top 4 RD defenseman who just hit his prime.

We have been begging dubas to find a defenseman like this for years. There really is no argument to be had here. He fits the Mathews/Marner/Nylander era like crack.

 

[Buds17]

Yeah I dunno how this Hal Gill stuff got started, just no.

Defensive d-men who joined Toronto after previously having played with Boston...and...that's all I can come up with? I'll also suggest that the team around Carlo now will be better than those Leaf teams around Hal Gill were (they didn't make the playoffs).

 

[OVO16]

Carlo doesn’t have that physical, mean streak that Muzzin had

Muzzin never had a mean streak either lmao

 

[thusk]

Hal Gill isn't a good comparison, he was more bottom pair #6 D, at least in his later years when we had him. Carlo at least touched top pair for a little but, even if he's now more of a #4.

The way they played are extremely similar, the biggest difference is Carlo is also a good skater and Hal gill one of worst skater i ever saw in NHL. Even Luke Schenn looking like a good skater comparaing to Gill.

 

[Bravid Nonahan]

D-men often have some of their best years in their early 30s - maybe not in terms of offense, but in terms of defense. Look at a guy like Tanev.

Carlo is a player who is 28 yo. there is no reason why he can't be very effective for a long time. I like this pickup.

Also, having a guy like Tanev to mentor him is a great thing.

 

[Atrusai]

D-men often have some of their best years in their early 30s - maybe not in terms of offense, but in terms of defense. Look at a guy like Tanev.

Carlo is a player who is 28 yo. there is no reason why he can't be very effective for a long time. I like this pickup.

Also, having a guy like Tanev to mentor him is a great thing.

*knock on wood* If he stays healthy and gets back to what he was a few years ago. I don't like how much we gave up for both him and Laughton, but appreciate Tre actually making the moves with so many question marks coming up in the summer.

 

[Jozay]

Muzzin never had a mean streak either lmao

Yeah he did

 

[Roo]

Maybe you don't think Marner's 3 points in 7 games wasn't a problem, I sure as hell do. Lyubushkin got 3 points FFS, Domi got 4.

Marner, JT and to a lesser degree Matthews have not delivered for us in the playoffs, period.

Of course. We want them to come through. My point is, nobody in the bottom 6 is keeping them honest. Its not the regular season, its a 7-game series where the opposition is focused and making adjustments to neutralize your offense. You need to be strategic, and they Leafs finally are. The B's series are low scoring because that is their game plan. They only need to focus on neutralizing our top players, because they know the rest won't do anything. Domi was in our top-6 that series. Recall, those other players posted 1 or 0 points in 7 games!! Is it coincidental that when the Leafs play the Bolts their numbers are better? That's because of the have the talent to go toe-to-toe with our stars. We have to be able to compete and win regardless of the types of series (high-scoring/low-scoring) we face.

This is precisely why the Leafs focused on D and Goaltending, and not bringing in more scorers. They don't expect more offense to win, they expect their D will keep more pucks out. If they do, they will win. Even the loss to FLA in 2023, each game was quite close. 1 goal makes all the difference in these games.

It’s easy and fair to lay blame on your top scorers because of what they are paid. But it’s the team that’s let us down, not a select few. This isn’t the NBA. Everyone matters in a 7 game series. D and Goaltending included, but they didnt really get any of the heat.

 

[Roo]

Carlo is more like Muzzin with less offensive skills.

I think you’ll find Muzzin was a more physical player than Carlo. Carlo is big, but he is the kind of defender you don’t notice in a game when he is playing well. Muzzin was noticeable for his physicality and the offense he brought.

Yeah he did

Muzzin was a beauty, still miss him.

 

[meefer]

Here's everything I've read about Carlo

- A legitimate second-pair, shutdown right-handed defenseman—solid as a #4.
- Once a top-pair guy, but his game has declined slightly, with a history of concussions.
- The Boston Bruins still value him as a reliable, stay-at-home defenseman. In his career he's gotten the toughest shutdown match up's.
- Bruins fans point out flaws in his game, particularly in the offensive zone, where he struggles with puck movement and making a clean first pass. "Offensive zone plays die on his stick" is what I've heard from a few posters.
- Lacks physicality and doesn't use his size to deliver big hits—comparable to Justin Holl in that regard.
- Fans describe Carlo as a player who "leaves you wanting more."
- While he isn't overly physical, he effectively uses his size to clear the front of the net.
- A strong character guy with leadership qualities—assistant captain material.
- Wasn't a great fit playing with Zadorov as neither were good at moving the puck. Both are stay at home guys.
- If expectations are set at a very good #4/#5 stay-at-home defenseman rather than a top pair guy, he'll be a solid addition. A good buy-low candidate with the potential to regain form, but at worst, a steady defensive presence with a right-handed shot.
- While not a true top-pair defenseman, he's still among the top 30 right-handed defensemen in the league, given the position’s scarcity.


My thoughts:
There aren’t many high-quality right-handed defensemen in the league, so when one becomes available—even with some flaws—it’s often worth considering. The fact that his stock dipped is probably a good thing—if it didn’t, you just can’t get these guys. Given Carlo’s stay-at-home style, his struggles offensively aren’t a major concern, especially since he plays the right side and can slot in with Rielly. A Rielly-Carlo pairing has the potential to be an effective second pair, with both players complementing each other well. I'm perfectly happy to pay the price, because at the end of the day, we actually fixed a glaring hold which is 2nd pair RD, with a legitimate solution. We are a much better team today. Great day imo.

Thank you for a great post. Doesn't matter if I agree with all, or any, of what you said. You said it well. I hope you're right. I'd love to see a cost controlled, solid quality RD paired with Rielly to see how good Rielly might actually be. The guy is closing in on number two all time for Dman scoring (maybe 3rd, can't remember) and, while we all know he has his defensive weaknesses, he has been our most consistently 'best' defenseman in the playoffs for years. If Carlo can help elevate Rielly's game, then I might call this a home run trade for the Leafs. Based on your evaluation @Puckstuff, I'm game for saying this guy is a player. That's a good thing. If he compliments Rielly's game to a degree that helps Mo break free from his disappointing year, than we double the effectiveness of the trade. Fingers crossed.

 

[PromisedLand]

If he was seriously injured he wouldn’t be playing



I hear what you are saying, but I recognize Tres thinking here:

1. We have a window, and not trying tells your team you don’t believe in them. You may as well throw the year away. We have a set window with this group and pissing a year away doesn’t make sense. Sends a pretty bad msg to the group and the white flag comes up afterwards.

2. Our core players are pretty much the only ones that provide offense in the playoffs. They aren’t the problem. Last year against Boston illustrates this: holmberg 0 pts, Robertson 0 pts, jarnkrok 0 pts, kampf 1 pt, dewar 0 pts, reaves 1 pt. In 7 games!

3. Opponents strategy is to keep our top forwards off the board. And they can do this because our bottom 6 does nothing. They just focus on keeping scores low and countering on our mistakes. Namely on D or weak goaltending. This is why we lost game 7. Our top guns gave us a go ahead goal in the 3rd, d and goaltending let us down. It’s been like this every playoffs.

All this to say, it’s clear to me why Tre doesn’t focus on offense. We have the talent to break games. We just need to be in the games and give them the opportunity to come through. Hopefully with a healthy mcmann and Laughton now, we will also get some depth scoring. No guarantees this changes our spring outcome, but you have to take your shot. As an example, Stolarz would have made a massive difference last spring.

But that has been a "strategy" since the Core4 have been here. Their AAV doesnt allow for quality depth, and when we go dumpster diving to be cap compliant in the hopes of "Core would break through eventually" that hasn't happened.

I have not seen anything from the core especially marner in the post season that tells me they are just there with needing a little push. That was the Dubas/Shanahan era mantra "we're almost there" that they gaslighted every single Leaf fan for years.

To me its the same experiment we are running now so to be seen if it pays dividends in the playoffs. Even if Stolarz puts on a show, we still need to put puck in opposition net.

In the last 5 years in post season these are the scoring stats for Matthews, Marner and Nylander

Matthews 35 games and 13 goals = 0.4 goals per game
Nylander 34 games and 17 goals = 0.5 goals per game
Marner 37 games and 6 goals = 0.2 goals per game


Somethings gotta give though isn't it?

 

[OVO16]

Yeah he did

Theres no way you actually think that. He had a few big open ice hits but he shied away from all scrums and confrontation damn near 100% of the time.

To say Jake Muzzin had a mean streak is a complete lie. And this is coming from someone who was a big fan of Muzzin

 

[Jozay]

Theres no way you actually think that. He had a few big open ice hits but he shied away from all scrums and confrontation damn near 100% of the time.

To say Jake Muzzin had a mean streak is a complete lie. And this is coming from someone who was a big fan of Muzzin

if getting into scrums is your barometer for a mean streak, then I guess I see where you’re coming from lol

 

[OVO16]

if getting into scrums is your barometer for a mean streak, then I guess I see where you’re coming from lol

What exactly is your definition of a mean streak then lmao?

Playing the body and being physical is different from having a mean streak. Eric Cernak for example is someone who plays with a mean streak.