Boston Bruins appear to make trade decision on 6-foot-5 defenseman Brandon Carlo
Brandon Carlo’s name has been in trade talks for the past few days, but now it appears as though the Boston Bruins have made a decision on his future despite significant interest, especially from Western Canada.
The trade-deadline talk around the NHL is heating up with just days remaining, and one name that has all of a sudden emerged as a potential trade candidate is Boston Bruins blue-liner Brandon Carlo.
In that time, the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets have all been linked to the 6-foot-5 defenseman, but according to reporter Anthony Di Marco, the team have made a crucial call on him.
That report reveals that the team have no intentions of trading Carlo, and while that could definitely change with an overwhelming offer, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney appears to have made his mind up.
With very few prospects and draft picks coming through the organization, the Bruins made the call to move Trent Frederic to the Oilers on Tuesday for future draft picks, with many believing that moving Carlo could net them a similar return.
In 62 games this season, Carlo has just one goal and nine points, but his strength comes from his shutdown, physical play on the back end, and with his contract running for another two years with a $4.1 million AAV, it’s safe to say that this is a conversation that could be revisited in the summer.
For now, though, all signs are pointing toward Carlo remaining with the Bruins through the trade deadline, but with several other names still drawing plenty of interest, especially captain Brad Marchand, keep a close eye on the Boston Bruins over the next 48 hours.
This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially made a shocking move involving Ryan Reaves just a day before the NHL trade deadline. In breaking news, insider Elliotte Friedman confirmed that five players were placed on the NHL waiver wire, and three others were claimed. Notably, the Toronto Maple Leafs made the decision to put Ryan Reaves on waivers. Reaves joined Tyler Pitlick, Riley Stillman, Evan Cormier and Cameron Hebig on the list of players up for grabs. In addition, three players changed teams: Jordan Oesterle left the Boston Bruins for the Nashville Predators, who also claimed Jakub Vrana from the Washington Capitals, while the Columbus Blue Jackets grabbed Christian Fischer from the Detroit Red Wings. Let’s not forget that any player on an NHL roster when the deadline passes will be ineligible to play in the AHL for the rest of the season and during the playoffs. This means players who had to clear waivers before joining the AHL had to be sent down Thursday. In the Leafs’ case, they are likely planning to bring him back to the NHL for the playoffs. General manager Brad Treliving likely considered that his $1,350,000 AAV contract, which expires at the end of next season, would discourage teams from claiming him. Reaves, 28, has played 35 games this season with the Maple Leafs, recording just two assists. He has averaged 7:48 of ice time per game and holds a -2 rating. It will be interesting to see how the Toronto Maple Leafs use the extra cap space. If he clears waivers, the Leafs will free up $1.15 million, but if he is claimed, they will gain $1.35 million in cap relief. In a recent report, Elliotte Friedman linked Brock Nelson, Brayden Schenn and Mikko Rantanen to the Leafs.
Over a month after Luka Doncic was traded, Dallas Mavericks fans are still upset. But there is still one person they have not heard from on the whole situation — Mark Cuban. Until Thursday night, the team’s former owner had not given his whole thoughts on Doncic heading West to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. Turns out, Cuban shares an opinion a lot of fans have voiced on social media. Trading Doncic away is “one thing” but Cuban says a significantly better package should have come back to Dallas. He believes if Mavericks GM Nico Harrison found a way to make the deal more favorable, the outrage might not be as loud. “If the Mavs are going to trade Luka, that’s one thing,” Cuban said. “Just get a better deal. No disrespect to Anthony Davis but I still firmly believe if we had gotten four unprotected No. 1s, Anthony Davis, and Max Christie, this would be a different conversation.” Doncic has recently begun to find his footing in Los Angeles. Tuesday night against New Orleans, he recorded a 30-point and 15-assist double-double while adding eight rebounds. His short time with the Lakers has resulted in an average of 22 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 7.7 assists while the team has won seven consecutive games. Meanwhile in Dallas, everything that could go wrong has. Davis only played three quarters in his Mavericks debut before getting hurt and has yet to return to action. But with Kyrie Irving now out for the season due to a torn ACL, people are wondering if Davis will come back at all. Through it all, not much communication has come from the Mavericks front office. Specifically Harrison, the one who plotted and eventually executed the trade. In Cuban’s opinion, that’s been the biggest mistake of the whole process. “You’re going to make mistakes,” Cuban said. “I think the biggest challenge that the Mavs have right now is there’s nobody who’s really outgoing to communicate. It’s not so much what you do, it’s how you communicate why you do what you do.” Cuban was asked if he would ever trade Doncic, given his past loyalty to Dirk Nowitzki. He did not want to comment, saying “I’m not going to go there. It doesn’t even matter” before referencing an old trade he made, sending Steve Nash to the Phoenix Suns. Doncic will continue to be supported by Cuban, still having a relationship with the player and his family. You have to imagine April 9 at the American Airlines Center will be weird for everyone involved when Doncic returns to Dallas for the first time.
We had a major trade in the last few hours, announced by the Colorado Avalanche. They acquired a new second-line center, Brock Nelson, in a trade involving multiple pieces. ‘The Avs acquire Brock Nelson and William Dufour from the New York Islanders in exchange for Kylington, Calum Ritchie, a 1st-round pick in 2026 or 2027, and a conditional 3rd-round pick in 2028.’ In short, this trade seems interesting for Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens. Brock Nelson’s acquisition pushes Casey Mittelstadt out in Colorado: an opportunity for Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens? That’s the current speculation: ‘His name has been circulating a lot in trade rumors in recent weeks, and considering that the Avalanche acquired Brock Nelson last night, Casey Mittelstadt is clearly available in Colorado. If I were Kent Hughes, I would definitely call the Avalanche to inquire about the asking price.’ Marc-Olivier Beaudoin A major storyline to follow today in Montreal. Casey Mittelstadt, 26 years old, is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound center. The 8th overall pick by the Buffalo Sabres in 2017 (1st round) has accumulated 230 points in 420 career NHL games, including 77 goals, and has recorded 34 points in 63 games so far this season with the Colorado Avalanche as their second-line center. Nelson’s acquisition has clearly cost him his spot. Mittelstadt also registered 47 points in 62 games and 59 points in 82 games with the Buffalo Sabres over the last two seasons.
The NHL’s 2024-25 trade deadline was on Friday at 3 p.m. ET, and some big names, like Mikko Rantanen and Brad Marchand, changed teams to significantly alter the balance of power in the NHL. Let’s examine the winners and losers from Friday’s moves. Winners Sellers: This deadline season was a big-time sellers’ market, with rental players going for significant prices. Seattle got two first-round picks for Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde, Pittsburgh got second-round picks for Anthony Beauvillier and Luke Schenn and the New York Islanders managed to get a top prospect (Calum Ritchie) and a first-round pick for pending UFA Brock Nelson. It paid to be bad this season and have players to move. Dallas Stars: After getting Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci from San Jose on Feb. 1, it looked like that might be Dallas’s one big move. It was not. On Friday, they snuck in and snagged Rantanen from Carolina, signing him to an eight-year contract extension to keep him from hitting free agency. Dallas already had one of the best teams in the league, and now it is adding a top-10 offensive player. This is a Stanley Cup-worthy roster. Pittsburgh’s rebuild: With Friday’s series of trades (Beauvillier to Washington, Cody Glass to New Jersey and Luke Schenn to Winnipeg), combined with their earlier trades this season, the Penguins now have more draft picks (31) over the next three years than any other team in the league. They also have some significant salary cap space to work with. That is a lot of resources they can utilize in many different ways. Florida Panthers: The defending Stanley Cup champions made two massive deals in the week leading up to the deadline, landing defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks and then shocking everybody by acquiring Marchand from the Boston Bruins. The Marchand deal is the real needle-mover because he is still a top-line player and helps make the Panthers one of the league’s most physical — and hated — teams. Facing them in the playoffs will be a chore. Losers Carolina’s reputation: A few weeks ago, Getting Rantanen from Colorado looked like a home run trade that would give them a chance to win the Stanley Cup this season. Then they couldn’t get him signed, and instead of using him for one run at the Cup, they traded him to Dallas for Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks and two third-round picks. In a vacuum, in terms of long-term assets, Carolina is probably further ahead now than it was at the start of the season. But that is not the problem. The problem is that another top-tier player did not want to re-sign with them. It happened last summer with Jake Guentzel, and it happened again here. Their chances for a Stanley Cup are not as good as they looked a few weeks ago. Steve Yzerman’s plan in Detroit: It’s getting harder and harder to understand the approach here. Detroit did nothing to help its cause in terms of making the playoffs this season by not addressing any of its pressing needs. Even worse, it added another bad goalie contract in Petr Mrazek in a trade with Chicago. They are outside the playoff picture and could miss for the ninth consecutive season and sixth under Yzerman. Edmonton Oilers goaltending: Edmonton made a strong trade to upgrade its defense by getting Jake Walman from the San Jose Sharks. That is the good news. The bad news is that the Oilers did nothing to address their problematic goaltending situation, so they risk going into the playoffs with a major Achilles heel at the one position that could dramatically change a series or a season. Los Angeles Kings offense: The Kings are on their way to the playoffs for the fourth year in a row but are coming off three straight first-round exits. A fourth consecutive early exit would be wildly disappointing, especially if it comes at the hands of the Oilers again. The Kings’ biggest weakness is still their lack of offensive impact scorers. The only move they made ahead of the deadline was to acquire Andrei Kuzmenko from the Philadelphia Flyers. However, that will not be enough to compete with the top teams in the Western Conference.
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Flames have interest in Bruins’ Brandon Carlo at trade deadline: Report
The Bruins will be without Charlie McAvoy for the foreseeable future due to the upper-body injury he suffered during the 4 Nations Face-Off. Marchand, Swayman and Coyle react to the news.
Brandon Carlo has spent his entire NHL career with the Boston Bruins since making his debut in the 2016-17 season, but will that still be the case after Friday afternoon’s trade deadline?
The Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco reported Monday that the Calgary Flames have shown interest in Carlo.
The Flames are barely hanging on to the second wild card playoff berth in the Western Conference. Bolstering the blue line makes sense for Calgary if it chooses to buy at the trade deadline.
It’s not known what the Flames would be willing to give up for Carlo. They have the 13th-best prospect pool in the league, according to the The Athletic’s 2025 rankings. Calgary also has plenty of draft picks, including two first-rounders in both 2025 and 2026.
Carlo is signed for two more seasons at a team-friendly salary cap hit of $4.1 million. The 28-year-old defenseman has a 10-team no-trade clause in his contract for the 2024-25 season, per PuckPedia.
Carlo doesn’t provide much offense — just nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 61 games this season — but he’s a strong defensive defenseman with good size (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) who can play 20-plus minutes per game, block shots, defend the opponent’s top forwards and kill penalties. Calgary ranks 27th in penalty killing with a 73.9 percent success rate.
Given his age, playoff experience and ability to play on the second pairing of a contending team, it wouldn’t be surprising if Carlo draws interest on the trade market between now and Friday.
The Bruins are among the most interesting teams to watch at the trade deadline. They’re only four points out of a wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but based on the way this team has played all season, it seems quite unlikely the B’s would win a round if they did qualify for the postseason. Unlike recent seasons, this team absolutely does not have the look of a contender.
Selling would be the smartest path for the Bruins to take at the trade deadline, but with the playoffs still a realistic goal, it’ll be interesting to see how many players Boston is willing to jettison before Friday.
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By Nick Goss • Published March 3, 2025 • Updated on March 3, 2025 at 4:05 pm
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BRUINS LISTENING ON MULTIPLE PLAYERS
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Brandon Carlo, defenceman
The Boston Bruins have informed other clubs that they are willing to take trade calls on a number of their players, both on expiring contracts and those with term remaining on their deals.
Forwards Justin Brazeau and Trent Frederic have generated the most attention, but the Bruins have others in play.
On Monday morning, TFP reported defenceman Brandon Carlo is available and was added to the TFP Trade Watch List. In addition to Carlo, the Bruins are also open to calls on forwards Pavel Zacha, Charlie Coyle and Morgan Geekie.
According to Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff, the Calgary Flames are among the teams interested in Carlo.
During Monday night’s edition of “The Latest” on TFP with Kate Petterson, David Pagnotta acknowledged Carlo is available and the Bruins could make multiple moves ahead of Friday’s 3pm ET trade deadline.
“Yeah, Brandon Carlo is a player that Boston is listening on, Pagnotta said. “He’s got a few more years left on his contract. He has some no-trade protection. So, there will be a bit of a say here, but with how things have gone in Boston and how the blueline is looking for this club moving forward, it seems like they’re willing to listen on Brandon Carlo, in addition to, as we know, pending unrestricted free agents Justin Brazeau and Trent Frederic. Both of those guys are very much in play; a lot of interest in them.”
Pagnotta also noted that if a move involving Carlo does not occur by Friday’s deadline, “it’s likely that those discussions will carry out in the summer perhaps around the Draft.”
Carlo, 28, comes with a $4.1 million salary cap hit and has two more years remaining on his contract. His deal also includes a 10-team no-trade list this season.
Frederic, 27, owns a $2.3 million cap hit, while Brazeau, 27, has a $775,000 cap hit. Both players can become unrestricted free agents July 1.
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