On March 7, 2025, the National Hockey League trade deadline hit at exactly 3 p.m. ET. By that point in the day, the Boston Bruins had made two trades, and when the hour turned, rosters would be frozen until the trade market reopened in the postseason. Most blockbuster trades came in the earlier hours of the morning, and it seemed like the whispers of a possible Brad Marchand trade had been nothing but speculation until 3:01 p.m., when NHL insider Elliotte Friedman posted on X that he was hearing a “last minute possibility” of Brad Marchand being traded to Florida. At 3:07 p.m., Friedman posted: “Marchand to Florida. It’s happening.”
The trade was a blockbuster. Marchand had been drafted 71st overall by the Bruins in 2006 and had stayed with them his entire career, playing 1,090 games with the team and serving as captain for two seasons and alternate captain for three. The return from the Florida Panthers was a conditional second-round draft pick for the 2027 NHL Draft.
A quieter trade was made by Boston just a few minutes later. At 3:07 p.m., Friedman reported that Boston had traded nine-year veteran Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2025 fourth round draft pick, a conditional 2026 first-round draft pick, and 20-year-old Leafs prospect Fraser Minten. Minten had played just 19 NHL games at the time of his trade and put up four points in those games. In the six games he played with the Bruins after his trade, he put up one point and was sent down to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Providence Bruins, where he played 19 games and earned nine points. His record earned him a spot on the NHL roster the next season.
This season, Minten, now 21, has played 82 games and earned 35 points with the Bruins. Carlo has played 55 games with the Leafs and earned seven points. Carlo missed games between Nov. 13 and Jan. 5 with an ankle injury and was considered done for the season after April 8.
Minten’s progress was clear from the moment he joined the team. In his second game this season, Minten scored the overtime game-winning goal against Chicago. He’s contributed another game-winner this season, as well as two shootout goals in the three shootouts coach Marco Sturm has put him out for. One of these overtime goals came in his hometown of Vancouver. When asked in a post-game interview about how trust was built to put Minten on the ice rather than renowned players like Charlie McAvoy or David Pastrnak, Sturm praised the young rookie.
“He did it. Not just today. It’s something I think that, you know, trust usually comes with time, and he gave me that, so it’s more on him than me,” Sturm said in a post game interview. “I’m just the idiot who put him on the ice, you know? He deserves everything. I give him a lot of credit.”
When interviewing hockey fans about Minten and his impact, fan Maha AlSebaye said, “I actually think Boston got the better deal in this trade. Carlo is a below average player honestly, and while his stats aren’t everything, sure, he’s older, so he’s less likely to shift his whole game and have a sudden growth in his playing like with Minten. They won the deal with Minten alone, and his performance in Boston has shown that already.”
She added that, while she doesn’t feel qualified to talk extensively on his strengths and weaknesses as a player, “I do know how much effort he puts into learning the game and growing his skills. He is always willing to improve and learn and become better, and to me, that is a massive strength a player can have, especially at his age and with his potential.”
In the regular season, Minten finished at eighth in points on the Bruins, second in +/-, sixth in goals, 12th in assists, and tied for first in overtime goals. He finished at tenth in points for all NHL rookies this season, first for +/-, eighth for goals, 13th for assists, and tied for first for overtime goals. Minten will be joining the rest of the Bruins in their Stanley Cup Playoff run starting on April 19 against the Buffalo Sabres.