Brandon Carlo is looking forward to a fresh start paired with Morgan Rielly in 2025-26

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo is pleased that he gets to continue building up his chemistry with Morgan Rielly at camp.

The duo is projected to be the top unit for Tuesday’s preseason clash against the Ottawa Senators, the first preseason appearance for both this year. There is plenty of pressure on the alternate captain due to the poor performance he had last season, but it is worth noting that things turned around for Rielly once Carlo arrived and the two were paired up.

“ It was nice to kind of have a little bit of foundation last year, but coming into camp with a fresh start is obviously great for everybody,” Carlo said to reporters after the morning skate. “ Mo’s been great.  He’s taken me under his wing throughout last year and then this year as well.  Just making sure I’m always in the right spots off the ice, on the ice, on time and whatnot.  So I’m grateful for him. He’s a great team leader.”

Beyond the Rielly-Carlo pairing, the rest of the backend has remained mostly unchanged from what was utilized towards the end of the previous campaign, with Henry Thrun being the only new addition. Maintaining that stability goes a long way towards keeping in tune with the system’s demands and maintaining strong chemistry with the other mainstays in the lineup.

“It feels great. Coming in this year to camp, just being here from the get-go with this defensive group just felt really good,” he said. “ I think we all mesh very well within the locker room, on the ice, and everything in between.  So I really like what we have on the back end there, and I think it’s gonna be a fun year learning from these guys, pushing each other, and just being the best unit that we can.”

With this being his first proper training camp in Toronto, Carlo has enjoyed the fine balance of what head coach Craig Berube has initiated in getting conditioning back to what’s needed for a hockey season while not being too demanding on the body. He is applying lessons he learned from his younger days with the Boston Bruins when he got mentored by the likes of Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug.

The one thing he wants to carry over to this year’s Leafs team is to be loud and communicative both on and off the ice.

“I think just drawing off of my experience that I had last year, I like to try and be vocal,” he said. “If they have a question, try and go through with them because I’m gonna have questions as well along the way.  As a collective group, we’re all here to communicate.  I appreciated that from the guys that were here last year helping me, and I want to try to get the same.”

As far as passing down advice to the younger players at camp in Ben Danford, Noah Chadwick, and William Villeneuve among others, he stressed the importance of not overthinking things during the preseason. While there is bound to be some rust to shake off after resting in the summer, focusing on the opportunity of preparing for the grind of another season goes a long way.

It naturally led to him recalling the memories of what it was like during his first preseason game, which Carlo remembered fondly.

“ I think we were in Providence and I think I was just a little bit overwhelmed the first couple of shifts,” he said. “ First taste of the NHL, it’s an exciting moment for you and your family just going through that day. It’s one of those big games that I guess you could say that you feel a little bit more amped up for, but  I just enjoyed the experience of being around those NHL guys and tried to take it all in.”

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