At the trade deadline, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney did what some didn't think he would do, make some bold moves and trade some key players with term. He made two such trades, sending forward Charlie Coyle to the Colorado Avalanche and defenseman Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Sending one of their top 4 blueliners to a division rival certainly opened some eyes are both fanbases, but the return was not as bad as it could have been. Boston got prospect Fraser Minten in return along with a 2026 first-round draft pick (top-five protected) and a fourth-round 2025 pick. On Wednesday night, the Avalanche and Maple Leafs met in Canada and Coyle hyped up his former teammate.
Charlie Coyle hypes up former teammate Brandon Carlo
Before the Maple Leafs picked up a 2-1 win over Colorado, Coyle had a lot of good things to say about Carlo. Teammates through some big times with the Black and Gold, you could tell that not having the 6-foot-5 defenseman as a teammate anymore is a lot of getting used for the Massachusetts native.
"Everyone loves him. You can't not like him,'' Coyle said. "He's a big presence. He's just a good, good person. That's what I'll miss (about) playing with him most... Those guys are just so valuable."
Locker room presence is key in hockey and it appears that Carlo was that in Boston's room. This season, Carlo has one goal and nine assists combined between Boston and Toronto, with one assist coming with the Maple Leafs, but it's the work he does that doesn't necessarily get a lot of attention.
He is a shot-blocking machine, especially shorthanded, he can shut down the opponent's top players and frustrate them with his long reach. He is going to log a lot of minutes for the Maple Leafs down the stretch and in the postseason. He will stay more at home and it'll be interesting to watch how he fits in on the ice, but according to Coyle, he'll have no problem fitting in within the locker room, something that can be overlooked at times.