If there's any reporter in the Toronto area who is tapped in with the Maple Leafs, it's Nick Kypreos. The former NHLer finished out his career in the Maple Leafs' organization and is now one of Sportsnet's top experts on the state of the team. Kypreos released his first trade board of the season earlier on Tuesday, and it's a great representation of the Leafs' struggles.
Canadian teams are struggling this season, so their players make up most of Kypreos' board. However, it was nearly impossible to imagine Toronto having a player on the list at the start of the season, as it was 99.9% more likely the Leafs would be buyers at the trade deadline. Despite those expectations, Brandon Carlo is the first Leafs representative on the board, and might not be the last if the struggles continue.
The Maple Leafs and their fans have been struggling to come to terms with the trade that brought Carlo to Toronto from the Boston Bruins. He hasn't been the defenseman they thought they were going to get, and Fraser Minten has been a revelation for the Bruins as their third-line center. To make matters worse, Toronto's place in the standings has them in danger of giving up a high draft pick to one of their biggest rivals with the other piece in the Carlo deal.
Maple Leafs defenseman's inclusion on trade list is another win for Bruins
Kypreos alleges that the Leafs were in talks to trade Carlo earlier this summer, but it didn't come to fruition. If the Leafs had given up Minten and a potential 6-10 overall pick in the 2026 Draft (it is top-5 protected) for another second-round exit, it would've had many wondering just what Brad Treliving was thinking.
Now, Carlo has looked even worse this season, struggling to move the puck and having less impact in the defensive zone. His stock likely dropped after Kypreos' rumors that his name was in the JJ Peterka and Bowen Byram deals, meaning the return the Maple Leafs would get for the defenseman is nowhere near what they gave up for him.
In a deal that's getting more and more ugly for the Leafs, Bruins fans could have some more ammo, reminiscent of the disastrous trades of the past that brought in Dougie Hamilton, Tyler Seguin, and Tuukka Rask.