Even though the Toronto Maple Leafs obtained defenseman Brandon Carlo from the divisional rival Boston Bruins at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline for a steep price, new general manager John Chayka decided to cut ties with him earlier in the offseason.
Carlo was traded to the St. Louis Blues in return for two third-round draft picks (73rd and 76th overall) in the 2026 NHL Draft, bringing his time in Toronto to a close.
Former Toronto Maple Leafs Defenseman Brandon Carlo Opens Up About Time With The Club
Carlo, who spent the first full eight seasons of his career with the Bruins, was traded to the Maple Leafs in 2025 in return for Fraser Minten, a top-5 protected 2026 first-round draft pick, and a 2025 fourth-round draft pick.
While making an appearance on the “Cam & Strick” podcast, Carlo said that he enjoyed playing in a hockey-crazed market like Toronto.
“Overall, as an experience as a whole, being able to play in one of the biggest markets in all of hockey, especially within Canada, I just tried to embrace it,” Carlo said. “We won the first round, which was exciting. It was a lot of fun to go over a couple of those hurdles. Being in a big city like that, I tried to embrace it with my family. There were certain things like going to outdoor rinks, I always wanted to have growing up. We don’t have much of that in Colorado, and we had plenty of that this year with my kids.”
“There are so many good things that I can still draw positives from, even though there were some things that I don’t feel like I was necessarily at my best, or that we had the greatest year, and I had some injuries and it didn’t work out the way I hoped,” Carlo said. “But overall, I like to try and focus on the positive.”
After being acquired by the Leafs, Carlo would go on to play in 20 regular season games in the spring of 2025 with Toronto, registering three assists. He also appeared in all 13 postseason games as Toronto was eventually eliminated in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal by the Florida Panthers, and didn’t register a point.
This past season, he was limited to 55 games and had seven assists; the Leafs did not make the playoffs.
Carlo Is Happy To Be With The Blues
Now that he’s with the Blues, Carlo wants to use his veteran experience to help bring the Blues back to the postseason; like the Leafs, they also missed last season.
“Going forward, I want to learn what I took from Zdeno Chara and be as helpful as possible. Not be afraid to give someone a pointer or ask for some help as well,” Carlo said of joining the Blues.
“In Toronto, there were guys that made me feel comfortable as well. It was a great learning experience. I look back on my time with Toronto and think about what I learned from that and what I can bring stepping forward.”
Brandon Carlo Opens Up About Time With Maple Leafs