One thing is for sure: the trade the Toronto Maple Leafs made with the Boston Bruins for defenseman Brandon Carlo is not sitting well with fans. Frustration boiled over on Saturday night when a shorthanded Boston team made its only trip to Scotiabank Arena this year and came away with a 5-3 victory.
What pushed the Maple Leafs fans over the edge came late in the third period when Fraser Minten, once one of Toronto's top prospects, sealed the win with an insurance goal with three minutes left. Anyone other than Minten scoring wouldn't have been as bad, but Minten pushed them over the edge.
NHL writer thinks Toronto is having buyers remorse with Brandon Carlo
On 'The JD Bunkis Podcast', Bunkis and James Mirtle of The Athletic discussed the state of the Maple Leafs and Carlo. Mirtle thinks that the Maple Leafs are having buyer's remorse eight months after the trade.
"I think there's buyer's remorse with (Brandon) Carlo,'' said Mirtle. "It's telling that when the Leafs were looking at trading for a winger, they were looking to move him for (JJ) Peterka."
Carlo had been mentioned in rumors over the offseason, but Toronto never made a deal. He was acquired from the Black and Gold for a playoff run last year when the Leafs were loaded for a deep run in the spring. Instead, they were bounced in the second round by the Florida Panthers in seven games, with the Game 7 loss coming at home.
Now they are stuck with Carlo, but he is what Mirtle thinks the Maple Leafs have a lot of: defensemen who are not great puck-moving blueliners. Toronto is just 16 games into the season, but the results haven't been what they had hoped with a home-heavy schedule.
Toronto fans are growing frustrated with Carlo, but it is a frustration that Bruins fans know all too well about with the big defenseman. I'm not sure that the Leafs and their fans were hoping to be getting in Carlo, but Linten shining in Boston this year has a lot to do with their frustration.
Toronto visits the TD Garden on Tuesday and expects a big-time response from the Leafs, but if they do, it won't do much to end the frustration they have right now with the trade. Minten being the Bruins' best player on a lot of nights sure doesn't shouldn't sit well with Toronto either. It's hard to blame Toronto for feeling that way.