The Toronto Maple Leafs traded veteran defenseman Brandon Carlo to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, as new general manager John Chayka continues to aggressively reconfigure their roster.
The Blues traded picks Nos. 73 and 76 on the second day of the NHL draft in Buffalo.
Carlo, 29, is a defensive defenseman entering his 11th NHL season. He had seven assists in 55 games last season while averaging 19:21 per game. Overall, Carlo has 29 goals and 90 assists in 692 career games for the Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins.
The Maple Leafs paid dearly to get him at the 2025 trade deadline, sending a conditional 2026 first-rounder, a fourth-rounder and promising center Fraser Minten to the Bruins. The pick was top-10 protected; since Toronto won the draft lottery and selected Gavin McKenna first overall, that pick shifts to 2028 for the Bruins.
Former Toronto general manager Brad Treliving acquired Carlo to contend for a championship in 2024-25, before the Maple Leafs lost to the Florida Panthers in seven games in the second round. But the bottom fell out for Toronto last season, as they dropped 30 points in the standings, missed the playoffs and replaced Treliving with Chayka.
This is the fourth trade Chayka has made since taking over the Maple Leafs. His most significant one also involved a defenseman: Darren Raddysh of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who was expected to be the top unrestricted free agent blueliner this offseason until the Maple Leafs got him on an eight-year deal.
In Carlo, the Blues add a strong veteran defender to the right side of their blue line, where they also have Colton Parayko and Logan Mailloux. Carlo has one more year on his contract with a $3.485 million cap hit.
St. Louis has also had an aggressive offseason, trading winger Jordan Kyrou to the Washington Capitals for a package that included center Connor McMichael and sending two first-round picks to the Anaheim Ducks for center Mason McTavish.