Getty

The Toronto Maple Leafs would make a massive mistake by trading defenseman Brandon Carlo during the 2026 offseason.

The chatter surrounding potential Toronto Maple Leafs trade candidates this summer has taken off. One of the most notable names has been that of defenseman Brandon Carlo.

When Toronto acquired Carlo at last year’s trade deadline, the expectation was that the Leafs had acquired a right-shot, shutdown defenseman who could elevate the team’s blue line to championship status.

Alas, injuries have derailed Carlo’s tenure in Toronto. The 29-year-old now heads into this summer with the final year of his current contract looming. And given the Maple Leafs rebuild/retool this offseason, Carlo figures to be a casualty.

But moving on from him would be a massive mistake.

Trading professional players is like selling stocks. The return a team could get for a player largely depends on the prevailing market conditions.

In Carlo’s case, the market conditions are less than optimal. An injury-plagued season made it difficult for the veteran blueliner to truly find his game. Plus, the overall abysmal season in Toronto was hardly conducive to anyone’s success. That’s why Carlo’s value is at an all-time low. Hence, moving him would not be the best idea in the world at this time.

Carlo Offers Value, but Maple Leafs Need to Be Patient

As with stocks, some companies offer solid underlying fundamentals. Those fundamentals point towards a good company that’s just run into some hard times. Those hard times have affected its balance sheet, dropping its overall valuation.

But just because a company has run into hard times doesn’t mean it can’t bounce back. That’s the situation the Maple Leafs are facing with Carlo.

He had a tough year in 2025-26. But that doesn’t preclude the former Bruins star from returning to form next season. If the Maple Leafs are patient, they could either reap the rewards or find that Carlo’s value could exponentially rise, particularly at next year’s trade deadline.

In the best of cases, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Carlo and the Maple Leafs remaining together beyond this season. Should Toronto return to the postseason, the club would be better off holding onto him.

What to read next:

Trading Carlo Would Make Sense in This Situation

Trading Carlo would make sense for the Maple Leafs if a team out there was desperate enough to make an offer John Chayka couldn’t refuse.

As slim as that situation may seem, there’s always the possibility that a team sustains a devastating injury to a key player. That situation could motivate the club in question to make a desperate move, hoping to save their season.

Now, there doesn’t seem to be any such team on the horizon. But who knows what could happen. Such a situation may not even happen during the offseason. But what if during training camp or early in the season, a team lost a top defenseman?

Such a catastrophic ordeal could spur a team to call the Maple Leafs and ask about Carlo’s availability. It might sound like an extreme example, but hockey is the sort of sport where injuries can hit teams like a ton of bricks.