It’s been less than a year since the Toronto Maple Leafs shipped Fraser Minten, along with a top-five protected first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, to Boston for veteran defenseman Brandon Carlo. While the Leafs certainly needed a player like Carlo, a right-handed shutdown defenseman who could play alongside Morgan Rielly, few would have predicted that Toronto would find themselves on the short end of the deal so quickly.
With the Leafs appearing bound to miss the playoffs for the first time in ten years, Minten has excelled with his new team. He was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for January after scoring eight goals and adding six assists in 14 games. Recently, he was promoted to the club’s first line to play alongside Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak before moving back to the second-line center position.
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“He was a steal for us,” Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said regarding the acquisition. Perhaps more impressive is that all eight of Minten’s goals came at even strength, as he was not slated to receive significant power-play time.
“I’m very, very happy with the way he’s been playing all year long,” Sturm added. “I put him in different situations from the fourth line to pretty much the first line, and you could see he can do it all. He definitely has something a lot of players don’t have”.
Meanwhile, Carlo has missed 23 games this season due to an ankle injury that required a corrective procedure. While injuries have contributed to Toronto’s struggles, handing Boston a high first-round pick is a tough pill to swallow—unless, of course, that pick remains in the top five.
As Minten thrives, the trade is shaping up to be another lopsided Toronto-Boston transaction. History offers a grim reminder: in 2006, the Leafs traded goaltending prospect Tuukka Rask for Andrew Raycroft. Rask became a franchise icon, winning a Vezina Trophy and serving as a backup for the 2011 Stanley Cup-winning team before making two more Final appearances as a starter. He retired as the winningest netminder in Bruins history. Raycroft, by contrast, spent only two seasons in Toronto with mediocre results, despite a 37-win debut season.
Similarly, in 2009, the Leafs acquired Phil Kessel from the Bruins. While Kessel led the Leafs in scoring for six seasons, the acquisition cost Toronto two first-round picks and a second-round pick. Those first-rounders became Tyler Seguin (2nd overall) and Dougie Hamilton (9th overall)—both high-end talents who have enjoyed long, successful careers.
