Brandon Carlo stabilized the Maple Leafs’ defensive corps after his acquisition

The Toronto Maple Leafs went against the grain at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, taking a completely different approach to the one they had the year prior and even the seasons before that under Kyle Dubas. Typically a team known for getting their business out of the way early and using the actual deadline more for adding depth players, the Leafs waited until the last minute before making their two big deadline swings.

The first one was Scott Laughton, who was acquired in hopes of giving the Maple Leafs some centre depth. His tenure with the Maple Leafs started off rocky but he found his footing when the playoffs came around and became a solid shutdown forward for them. The second one was Brandon Carlo, and that one came as a complete surprise to everybody. There was speculation that the Leafs were looking to improve their defensive corps, but most of the names they were connected to at the times were for more of a depth role. Pair this with the fact that general manager Brad Treliving has never been known to take his big swings at the deadline, and it makes the acquisition of Carlo at the buzzer that much more surprising. It was a hefty price to pay, with the Leafs forking over a first-round pick along with one of their top prospects in Fraser Minten, but in the end, they got a top-four right-handed defenceman with two more years at an affordable price.

How the year went

The Maple Leafs made it a point to improve, or rather, revamp their defensive corps in the summer prior to the 2024-25 season. They added Chris Tanev on a six-year contract worth $4.5 million annually, and they signed Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a four-year deal worth $3 million annually. It was apparent throughout the season the improvements that they had made, but with Jake McCabe and Tanev forming the shutdown pair and the pair of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Simon Benoit materializing at the bottom, Morgan Rielly was still without a true, regular partner. Has anyone heard this song before?

Still, nobody expected that Carlo, a top-4 defenceman on a division rival with no prior connections to the Maple Leafs, would be the guy they’d pull the trigger on a deal for at the 3:00 EST deadline. But that’s what happened. Carlo arrived in Toronto and immediately slotted in alongside Rielly, finally giving them some regular defensive pairs. Although the Maple Leafs’ penalty kill didn’t drastically improve, it wasn’t to the fault of their new blueliner, who blocked 28 shots in 20 games to close out the system while doing exactly what he was acquired to do – give Rielly extra time and space to play his game without having to worry about the defensive side of the game at all times. It came to fruition in the playoffs, with Rielly scoring four goals and adding seven points in 13 playoff games. It wasn’t necessarily the full iteration of ‘playoff Mo’ that fans had been used to, but given the down-year he had offensively, it was better than what they were getting before.

Carlo has never been known as an offensive player and that was no different in 2024-25. He had three assists in 20 games after the Maple Leafs acquired him and didn’t register a point in the playoffs, which, despite the blueliner’s reputation for being all-defence, they likely would have preferred a little bit more than what he provided. Still, to get an all-star performance from your trade acquisition at the deadline is a luxury, not an expectation, and the fact that he has term on his deal makes his slow start a little easier to stomach. He’ll enter the 2025-26 season with a full training camp opportunity to properly integrate himself into Craig Berube’s system, and by the time next year’s deadline and subsequent playoff run rolls around, he’ll ideally be in a more comfortable position. You can say the same about Scott Laughton.

Either way, the Leafs are set up better on defence than they were last season, which is a good thing.

Statistical Profile

Simply put, the analytics don’t play nice with Carlo here. These types of numbers are on par with what you would expect from a defenceman who makes his money without the puck as opposed to with it. His value comes in the form of boxing out players in front of his own net, blocking shots, and executing clean breakout passes to rushing forwards. His expected goals and expected goals-against should rise in 2025-26, since he won’t have two thirds of a season with a non-playoff team hurting his numbers, and his value as a shutdown specialist and Rielly’s babysitter (for lack of a better term) will shine through even more with a full season and beyond to work with.

Select highlights

Brandon Carlo saves a goal where the sun don’t shine vs. Panthers