Nine months later, it's still hard to fathom the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs making a huge trade at the deadline back in March. It was a frustrating deadline for Boston fans in terms of players heading to two division rivals in the Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers.
First, Brandon Carlo was traded to the Maple Leafs, then Brad Marchand went to the Panthers. Ough. In the Carlo trade, Boston got back prospect Fraser Minten, a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, and a fifth-round pick in 2025.
Florida ended up eliminating Toronto in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring on their way to winning the Stanley Cup. This season, the results have been different for the Bruins and Maple Leafs in terms of the trade, and the Black and Gold are getting the better of the trade.
Bruins continue to receive benefits from Maple Leafs trade last March
We are two months into the 2025-26 season, and the Bruins continue to get tremendous results from the trade. Minten has been a big part of Marco Sturm's lineup so far this season and is thriving in all situations.
In Tuesday night's 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues, Minten, along with Mark Kastelic, scored two goals, one in the second and one in the third periods, to power the Black and Gold to a second win over former coach Jim Montgomery in five days.
Minten has six goals and 11 points in 31 gams this season for the Bruins and now he is on a line with Pastrnak. He was considered one of Toronto's top prospects and now he's beginning his career with Boston and thriving.
As for Carlo and the Maple Leafs, things aren't going as well. Carlo is currently out injured, but over the summer and before he was injured last month, he was the subject of trade rumors. Toronto is currently on the outside looking in for an Eastern Conference playoff berth, but there is plenty of time for them to turn things around and get into the Top 8.
This continues to be a deal that the Bruins are winning and how it ends up shaking out remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, it will be one that is watched for years to come.