Trading away a roster mainstay like Brandon Carlo is never an easy decision for an NHL general manager. Sometimes, though, it becomes glaringly obvious that change is needed. For Don Sweeney and the Boston Bruins, that moment came last season when the team was barely treading water heading into the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline. With the team struggling all season long, the decision was made to pull the plug on the current core and build towards the future. Though losing Carlo wasn’t an easy pill to swallow, especially when it was to the Bruins’ division rivals in the Toronto Maple Leafs, a return of Fraser Minten, a 2026 first-round selection and a 2025 fourth-round pick made it much easier.
Carlo had been one of the team’s most consistent players in the lineup for years, logging heavy minutes on the penalty kill and serving as one of Boston’s most trusted shutdown defenders. Moving on from him not only created a significant hole on the backend but also signaled that Sweeney was willing to take risks, even if it meant strengthening a rival in exchange for a longer-term payoff.
Bruins Deemed Minten Worth the Risk
Minten, the Maple Leafs’ second-round pick from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, was still just 20 years old at the time of the deal. Still, the Vancouver, British Columbia native showed promise early on and made his NHL debut during the 2023-24 season with the Maple Leafs, playing in four games near the end of the season. He’d then split time the following season between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Marlies before eventually being traded to Boston.
Minten immediately made an impact in the AHL with the Providence Bruins, scoring three goals and seven points in 11 games, while also adding another goal in the NHL in Boston during his six games with the big club. While the offensive output hasn’t necessarily translated to success at the professional level for Minten yet, there’s no denying the upside the 6-foot-2, 195-pound center possesses. In Boston, Minten has a chance at an increased role from what he saw during his time in the Maple Leafs’ organization, one that he’ll undoubtedly do his best to capitalize on.
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Depending on how things go in training camp and the preseason, it wouldn’t be the least surprising to see Minten start the season as the Bruins’ third-line center on opening night. He’ll have some competition, namely Matt Poitras, or even Casey Mittelstadt if the team decides to move Pavel Zacha back to the center position, but as it stands, Minten seems to have the inside track at the job. Poitras’ development is an intriguing one for the Bruins, but injuries have clouded his availability and could open the door for Minten to grab minutes right away.
His ability to contribute in all three zones, impact the transition game and add some offense to the Bruins should be interesting to see. If he wants to stick at center for the Bruins, especially in a prominent top-nine role, he’ll need to do well at the face-off dot consistently. The Bruins have traditionally been their strongest down the middle and on their blue line. Minten will get a chance to be part of the solution in Boston, and considering how he’s looked already at such a young age, a leap from him this season doesn’t feel out of the realm of possibility.
