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Fraser Minten Leafs

Former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Fraser Minten finished 10th in rookie of the year voting for the NHL’s Calder Memorial Trophy.

The NHL revealed on Wednesday that New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer unanimously won the 2025-26 Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s top rookie. Schaefer, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, played in all 82 games for the Islanders, scoring 23 goals and 59 points. He deserved to win the award, and he deserved to win it unanimously.

That being said, voters are instructed to name five rookies when they cast their votes, with a 10-7-5-3-1 points allocation, so it’s always interesting to look at the down-ballot votes to see what other rookies got recognition for the honor. Minten, a former Maple Leafs prospect who now starts for the Boston Bruins, came in 10th place for the vote, something which is sure to irk Leafs fans after the disastrous trade that sent him plus a first-round pick to Boston for defenseman Brandon Carlo, a trade that helped lead to the downfall of former Leafs GM Brad Treliving.

Fraser Minten Comes in 10th in Calder Voting

Taking a look at the complete Calder voting this year, we can see that Minten came in 10th place in voting. He received six fourth-place votes plus 12 fifth-place votes for 30 total points.

The 21-year-old Vancouver native played in 19 games for the Maple Leafs over two seasons, scoring 2 goals and 4 points. While that isn’t much, he still flashed signs of untapped potential, and the Bruins wanted to get him in the Carlo trade, as they saw some serious talent.

With the Bruins, Minten played in 6 games and scored 1 goal for them after coming over from the Bruins at the 2024 NHL trade deadline. This past season, which was his rookie year, Minten played great for the B’s, playing in all 82 regular-season games, scoring 17 goals and 35 points. Though he was held off the scoresheet in 6 playoff games for the Bruins this year, he still gained valuable experience. At just 21, he is extremely young and will be a great player for Boston for many years to come.

Here is the full voting breakdown for the 2025-26 Calder Memorial Trophy, courtesy of the NHL.

2025-26 Calder Trophy Voting

(10-7-5-3-1 points allocation)

Maple Leafs Need to Forget and Move On

Although it’s easier said than done, the Maple Leafs as an organization and their fans collectively need to move on from the Minten and a first-round pick for Carlo swap. It was a high price to pay at the time for a depth defenseman, and it obviously looks even worse in hindsight after Minten had a great rookie season and Carlo has played poorly for the Leafs. Plus, the Leafs still owe Boston a first-round pick, so this trade hasn’t even been fully completed yet. That first-round pick will be unprotected and will be dealt to the Bruins during the 2028 NHL Draft.

It’s hard to do, but Leafs fans just need to forget about this awful trade and hope the team can turn it around under new GM John Chayka, senior advisor Mats Sundin, a new head coach after Craig Berube got fired, and with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft after the team got lucky and won the draft lottery.