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Toronto Maple Leafs Cursed in Trades With Boston

Originally posted on Inside The Rink
By Jeremy Ridgewell | Last updated Feb 2, 2026 1:22 PM ET

The Toronto Maple Leafs should never make trades with the Boston Bruins. If the last 20 years have taught us anything, that should be a no-brainer. It has been one fleecing after another in the Bruins’ favor.

We are not even at a full year since the Maple Leafs sent young prospect Fraser Minten, along with a first-round pick (top-five protected) in the 2026 NHL Draft, to the Bruins for veteran defenseman Brandon Carlo.

The Leafs certainly needed to add a player like Carlo. They needed a right-handed stay-at-home defenseman to play a shutdown role. Having someone like Carlo to play alongside Morgan Rielly allows Rielly to be more offensive. However, few would have predicted that Toronto would find themselves on the losing end of the trade so quickly.

Toronto is Failing While Minten Thrives

The Leafs’ season is collapsing, and they appear to be on the verge of missing the playoffs for the first time in ten years. Meanwhile, Minten is excelling in Boston with his new team. As Toronto craves more secondary scoring, Minten was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for January after registering seven goals and six assists for 13 points in 14 games. He now has 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points in 56 games this season.

His stellar month of January can be attributed to his being promoted to the Bruins’ first line. Playing with Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak helped in the stats department. He has since been moved back to the second-line center position. When asked about Minten, Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said, “He’s been a steal for us.”

The Bruins have played Minten up and down their lineup, and are impressed with his play. Fourth line or first line, Minten is giving it his all withthe Bruins, and it’s making the Leafs look bad. Toronto GM Brad Treliving will surely regret this trade for years to come.

Trading with Boston Never Works in Toronto’s Favor

Due to an ankle injury that required a corrective procedure, Carlo has missed 23 games for the Leafs this season. Injuries can be blamed for many of Toronto’s struggles, but that’s another story for another time. Boston having a high first-round pick due to Toronto’s struggles is the worst-case scenario coming true. Unless, of course, that pick remains in the top five.

Boston has Minten, who is thriving, and a chance at having a draft pick between sixth and tenth overall. We appear to have another lopsided Toronto-Boston transaction. History has a way of repeating itself. In 2006, the Leafs traded goaltending prospect Tuukka Rask for starting goaltender Andrew Raycroft.

Rask became a Vezina Trophy winner (2014), and he served as a backup to Tim Thomas during the Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup-winning run. He also made two more Cup Final appearances as a starter. Rask retired as the winningest goaltender in Bruins history. Meanwhile, Raycroft only played two seasons in Toronto with not much to show for it.

Back in 2009, the Leafs acquired Phil Kessel from Boston. Although Kessel spent six seasons as Toronto’s leading scorer, the cost of bringing him to Toronto was high. The Bruins received two first-round picks and a second-round pick for Kessel. Those first-rounders became Tyler Seguin (2nd overall) and Dougie Hamilton (9th overall). Both became high-end talents with long, successful careers.

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