Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli feels there’s a chance the Toronto Maple Leafs could move defenceman Brandon Carlo this offseason. The towering blueliner was recently added to Seravalli’s summer trade targets board, which is certainly a new development, considering Carlo hasn’t been in blue and white very long.
Leafs general manager Brad Treliving has a massive offseason ahead of him. It appears Mitch Marner is going to walk for nothing, the John Tavares and Matthew Knies contracts haven’t gone as smoothly as planned with both players still needing a deal, and there’s been plenty of rumblings that the Leafs are looking to move a defenceman for forward help, so perhaps Carlo could be in play?
The 28-year-old right-handed blueliner appeared in 20 regular season games for the Leafs last season, recording three assists. Carlo got better with each game with Toronto, and brought his expected repertoire to his new team. He also did a nice job settling Morgan Rielly down as his partner down the stretch, which is kind of ironic now, considering Carlo ranks 25th on Seravalli’s trade board, one spot behind Rielly.
“Carlo’s name has popped up in conversation in recent days, even though he was just acquired on Deadline Day from Boston in exchange for first and fourth round picks plus Fraser Minten. To be blunt: Toronto really isn’t itching to move Carlo. He is a big man who adds reliable depth at a reasonable cap hit and he’s in the prime of his career,” stated Seravalli. The hockey insider also pointed out that nothing appears off the table for Brad Treliving this summer, as some serious creativity is going to be needed in order to make significant upgrades to the Leafs’ roster, and not take a step back with Marner’s departure.
Carlo brings a ton of playoff experience to any dressing room, along with his 6-foot-5 frame, and ability to play a solid stay-at-home brand of hockey. At just $3.4 million AAV for two more seasons, right now on the Leafs cap, he’s a valuable piece for Treliving, not only to consider on his roster, but obviously as a trade chip as well, with talks reportedly heating up of late. It’s worth noting Carlo has an eight-team no-trade clause on his deal, and has some say in the matter.
Keep an eye on the trade route. It appears to be the one avenue Treliving’s going to be able to make some bold decisions, and Carlo could be involved this summer.
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