It was obvious the Maple Leafs needed a proper right-handed defenseman to round out their top four. At the eleventh hour, Brad Treliving delivered.

The Leafs have officially acquired Brandon Carlo (15% retained) from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Fraser Minten, their 2026 first-round pick, and the Flyers’ 2025 fourth-round pick (acquired in the Scott Laughton deal) while off-loading Conor Timmins and Connor Dewar to Pittsburgh to make cap/roster space (in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2025).

It’s a big price, but unlike most of the recent Leafs deadline acquisitions, Carlo has term on his $3.49 AAV million contract ($4.1 million minus 15% retention) and is signed for another two seasons beyond this one. Similarly, Laughton is also signed through next season, so while the Leafs paid big prices, at least they acquired players who will be in Toronto for more than a few months and secured retention to make both players really good value on the cap.

As for Carlo the player, he is a great fit and rounds out the Leafs‘ top four defense properly. We wrote a little bit about Carlo last week, but truthfully, I didn’t give him a ton of thought because I didn’t believe the Bruins would actually trade him to Toronto, given his age (28, turns 29 in November), palatable contract, and term.

At the time, we flagged:

“Carlo has Stanley Cup Finals experience and has averaged 20:41 per game in his 72 playoff games. He is another 6’5 righty who offers very little with the puck, so again, the aim would be to deploy him alongside an offensive lefty to balance each other out.

His age is tempting, as is his contract to go along with that package; plus, he is an excellent penalty killer. Deployment-wise, he is buried in Boston with about 30 percent offensive zone starts this season and 23 percent last year. He wouldn’t see that usage with the Leafs, who already run the McCabe-Tanev pairing. Carlo would have to provide a rock for Rielly, which he can do. “

Carlo rates very well defensively, and like Laughton, he is a good penalty killer, which again, has been a huge problem for about half the season now:

The domino effect on the Leafs’ defense here is quite significant. They simply couldn’t go into the playoffs with two of Simon Benoit, Conor Timmins, or Philippe Myers as regulars. All three players have been buried possession-wise this season and are getting worse as the season has progressed and the play across the league has elevated. Now, Timmins is gone, and Benoit and Myers will battle it out to be OEL’s partner. The hope is that OEL can move down and drive the third pairing to success behind a very solid top four of:

McCabe – Tanev
Rielly – Carlo

On paper, it makes a ton of sense; it’s just about the group gelling now. The good news is that the Leafs’ top pairing is already established and very good, and it’s hard to imagine OEL not succeeding in a lesser role, just as he did last year in Florida—to say nothing of OEL playing very well for the past few months in Toronto.

Carlo is a legitimate second-pairing defenseman who is signed through his prime years ahead, and that’s why the Leafs didn’t acquire him for free.

On the roster player side, Conor Timmins and Connor Dewar needed to go because the Leafs needed to move out cap dollars. Dewar underwent shoulder surgery in the summer and never got on track, but even if he did, he’s a fourth-line energy player. Timmins has some untapped skill and has finally managed to stay healthy; still, he struggles to handle forechecks, isn’t producing, and has been exploited by the opposition on the penalty kill — Carlo is a massive improvement on the PK for the Leafs, which is really important.

The big prospect moving out is Fraser Minten. He’s easily their best center prospect, but it’s fair to question his upside. He has just 13 points in 26 games in the AHL and struggled to keep up in the NHL this year, even though he scored a few goals. He has a good shot and has the tools to be an effective NHLer with a good career, but it’s fair to wonder if his ceiling is anything more than a 3C.

The Leafs are receiving a top-four right-handed defenseman for Minten right this very second, one who is signed for 2.5 seasons, and they’re trying to win right now. There’s not much else to say. It’s the price of business. Through it all, the Leafs retained their best prospect, Easton Cowan.

It should also be noted that part of the reason this was a need is that the Leafs gambled on Jani Hakanpaa, who hasn’t played. Carlo is better than Hakanpaa, but it’s a similar role. In theory, they could have gone a different direction had Hakanpaa been able to play, and that shouldn’t be totally lost in all of this (it was a miss).

But at the end of the day, we said the Leafs needed at least a top-nine forward and a notable defenseman to be taken seriously this spring and to give this group a chance to win the division down the stretch. They earned it, and Brad Treliving stepped up. They acquired a real top-nine forward who can play center in Scott Laughton and a quality top-four right-shot defenseman. Both of them are signed with term and in the proper age range for the Leafs’ window to boot.

The Atlantic has loaded up, and spring is around the corner. Buckle up.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR