Brandon Carlo, 29, has been traded by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the St. Louis Blues for two third-round picks. John Chayka then used those picks to draft Zach Olsen (No. 73) and Mans Gudmundsson (No. 76), while Toronto has continued clearing room for a faster
The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t just talk about change at the 2025 trade deadline—they kept moving even after the dust settled.
On Saturday, general manager John Chayka dealt Brandon Carlo, 29, to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for two third-round picks in the draft in Buffalo. The move lands as another concrete step in a push to reshape the Maple Leafs’ blue line with speed and more offence.
Chayka didn’t stop at the swap. Those two third-round selections were then used to pick 18-year-olds Zach Olsen and Mans Gudmundsson. Olsen went at No. 73 overall, while Gudmundsson was taken at No. 76.
Olsen, a Calgary native, is listed at six-foot-one and 202 pounds and plays right wing with a wrist shot described as particularly dangerous. He produced 18 goals and 34 points in 57 games in his third season with the Saskatoon Blades.
Gudmundsson is a right-shot, playmaking Swedish defenceman who made the jump from Farjestad’s junior program to the club’s pro team at the end of the past season.
Toronto’s turnaround efforts have come with plenty of collateral. As the Maple Leafs tumbled out of contention in 2025-26. they moved beyond Carlo and also dealt away another of their deadline acquisitions: Scott Laughton to the L.A. Kings for a second-round pick that arrived alongside defenceman Alexander Bilecki.
Carlo himself had been pushed around in-season. Former GM Brad Treliving shopped him during the year, but the market didn’t produce a deal.
Before the rumblings fully gathered steam, Carlo spoke plainly. “I love it here. I want to stay,” he said in response to trade talk.
The price Toronto originally paid for him in the first place has been hanging over the situation since day one. The “generous package” surrendered to Boston to acquire Carlo included young centre Fraser Minten. 2026’s first-round pick (now bumped to 2028. unprotected). and 2025’s fourth-round pick. Vashek Blanar.
In Toronto, Carlo’s role has been steady—serviceable in his own end, a penalty killer, and a minute-muncher. In 2025-26 he averaged 19:22, even while battling a foot injury. But the problem for the direction Chayka wanted is that Carlo simply isn’t the puck-moving. offence-driving defenceman Toronto is now chasing.
His production illustrates it starkly: Carlo recorded 10 points and zero goals in 88 games for the Leafs, including playoffs. That stat line includes the franchise milestone of the most games played by a skater in Toronto history without scoring a goal.
He is also. in the words of those who watched him closely. the kind of player teammates appreciate off the ice. The criticism wasn’t about character. Carlo has been described as one of the nicest, most genuine men you’ll meet in the league. He’s a fearless shot blocker, commits to defending, and plays with conviction.
Still, it’s exactly the kind of “commitment” that can clash with a roster-building plan when the emphasis turns to pace and creativity.
Carlo’s toughest moments at home this past season reflected the emotional weight of playing that aggressive brand of defence. In October, he failed to stick up for goalie Anthony Stolarz when Mason Marchment crashed into his crease. Then in March, Carlo turned the other cheek when Radko Gudas ended captain Auston Matthews’ season with a dangerous knee-on-knee.
After the hit, Carlo described the shock of it as the moments unfolded. “Initially. I didn’t really understand what was going on. and then afterwards. once you see the hit. you just feel terrible with the way that the situation all played out. ” he told Sportsnet.ca. “You learn from that mistake. Regardless if you see what happens with the whole situation or not. if you see your captain on the ice. you need to go in there and make it known that that’s not OK. So, definitely tough there. I thought about it a lot, for sure. Hate that that happened and didn’t react accordingly.”.
Those incidents weren’t the reason Toronto moved Carlo—but they underscored the gap between what his size, listed at six-foot-five and 227 pounds, suggests and what some teams believed they were getting in terms of edge.
When Chayka started building toward training camp, the depth chart drifted further against him. Top-pair righty Darren Raddysh and shutdown man Chris Tanev have been rehabbing on the ice and on track for training camp. and Carlo slipped to third on the right-side depth chart. Lefties Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jake McCabe, and the newly acquired Emil Andrae also have experience playing their off side.
Chayka’s willingness to keep poking at the roster doesn’t stop there. He has also explored trading Morgan Rielly, who has submitted a list of four Western Conference teams to which he’d entertain waiving his no-move protection.
With Carlo now off the board, the next question is whether Toronto’s blue-line reset will keep accelerating. The expectation around the organization is that more moves are coming next week.
For Carlo, the immediate path is clearer. In St. Louis, he should see second-pair minutes behind righty Colton Parayko. And if the Blues aren’t in the hunt by the trade deadline, the cap-friendly Carlo at $3.49 million could be flipped as a rental to a contender seeking depth.
For Toronto, the trade closes out one more chapter of a season spent trying to outrun last year’s decisions. This time. the organization chose to exchange a known penalty-killing defender for draft assets—and then convert those assets into two new names for a defence corps it wants to look different when it finally starts competing again.
Brandon Carlo Toronto Maple Leafs St. Louis Blues John Chayka Brad Treliving Darren Raddysh Chris Tanev Auston Matthews Morgan Rielly Zach Olsen Mans Gudmundsson Alexander Bilecki Scott Laughton trade deadline NHL defence