The Maple Leafs traded Brandon Carlo to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, ending the defenseman’s time in Toronto after only 75 games.
The Leafs received a pair of third-round picks, Nos. 73 and 76 in this draft, a markedly lower return than the cost to acquire him in the first place. They used those picks to select Zach Olsen, a 6-foot-1, 207-pound Canadian right winger and Mans Gudmundsson, a 6-foot-3, right-shooting Swedish defenceman.
Carlo is the latest defender to be shipped out as new GM John Chayka overhauls the blue line.
Chayka dealt Simon Benoit to Philadelphia earlier this month and is looking to find Morgan Rielly a new home this offseason.
As predicted, Gavin McKenna goes No. 1
The Athletic Hockey Show
Upon taking over as Leafs GM, Chayka said that remaking the defense would be a priority. He brought Darren Raddysh in on an eight-year contract last week and acquired Emil Andrae in the deal that sent Benoit and Joseph Woll to the Flyers.
Chayka appears intent on injecting more mobility, puck-moving ability, and offence to the back end.
Those are not strengths of Carlo’s game.
The 6-foot-5, 227-pound defender better fit the length and defense-first approach favoured by Brad Treliving, Chayka’s predecessor who was fired as GM in March and who acquired Carlo from the Bruins ahead of the 2025 trade deadline.
The acquisition cost turned out to be more significant than imagined: Young centre Fraser Minten and a first-round pick that is expected to be paid out in the 2028 draft after nearly landing just outside the top five in this draft.
The thinking on the deal was sound at the time: Carlo would fill a hole next to Rielly on the blue line of a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.
He had two additional years on his contract, which meant the Leafs would have him for three playoff runs potentially.
The Bruins retained money in the deal too, which brought Carlo’s cap hit down to just $3.48 million.
Carlo was fine for the Leafs in the 2025 playoff run, which ended in the second round, but he struggled mightily early last season only to suffer a foot injury that knocked him out for an extended period.
What made things worse: The Leafs, as a team, scuffled mightily in a way that management hadn’t anticipated. Which meant the prospect of handing over their first-round pick, if it fell outside the top five.
Ultimately, the Leafs lucked out. They won the lottery and held onto their pick, which they used to select Gavin McKenna first overall on Friday night.
Chayka opted to recoup whatever value he could by moving Carlo now, ahead of the final year of his deal.
What it means for the Blues
The Blues were in need of a veteran defenseman, particularly a right shot, and they’ve found one in Carlo.
Carlo will not be a long-term solution for the team, but while the organization waits for young defensive prospects such as Adam Jiricek, Theo Lindstein and others to get their game NHL-ready, the 29-year-old will bring stability to the group.
Carlo has clear shortcomings offensively, but his size and defensive mindset will be welcomed.
He also played for Blues coach Jim Montgomery with the Boston Bruins, while Montgomery was the head coach there, before Carlo was traded to Toronto.
The Blues have Philip Broberg, Colton Parayko, Logan Mailloux, Cam Fowler, Tyler Tucker and Lindstein under contract for next season. Matthew Kessel is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
But even with Kessel in the fold, the Blues needed more experience with a group that could give its prospects more ice time this season if deserving.
With the way the defense finished up last season, if everyone returns, the pairs could look something like this to start the season:
Broberg-Mailloux
Fowler-Parayko
Tucker-Carlo
Extra: Kessel
Lindstein would be an option, too, but as president and GM Doug Armstrong has indicated many times over the years, he doesn’t want the organization to fail young players, so Lindstein and Jiricek could start the season in AHL Springfield. —Jeremy Rutherford
