A former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman could find himself in a pickle. And that pickle could revive the conversation regarding egregious knee-on-knee collisions.
We’re talking about ex-Leaf blueliner Brandon Carlo. And in his first game with the St. Louis Blues, the 29-year-old found himself getting the heave-ho.
Early in the third period of Friday night’s game between the Blues and the Dallas Stars, Carlo leveled Dallas center Roope Hintz with a massive knee-first hit.
Roope Hintz was down and had to be helped off the ice after this knee-to-knee collision
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 3, 2026
Hope he's okay 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Cg9X0NDwsU
Carlo got a five-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct for the hit. He’ll also likely face supplementary discipline, most likely culminating in a suspension.
The hit was the first such incident since Radko Gudas ended Auston Matthews’ season last March. And it’s the type of situation that the NHL has been looking to crack down on. The league wants to deter these sorts of hits as much as possible, especially since they could have far-reaching consequences.
In Matthews’ case, it led to surgery. Fortunately, Gudas’ hit does not seem to have had any lasting consequences.
As for Hintz, he left the game but later returned. That’s something that should weigh heavily on whatever punishment he may receive for the hit. One of the arguments behind Gudas’ five-game suspension last season was the severity of Matthews’ injury. That’s why the former Leaf defenseman should be looking at a one-game ban or potentially a hefty fine.
NHL will want to set an example former Maple Leafs blueliner
There is no question that the NHL wants to keep knee-on-knee hits to a minimum. And so, the league will likely want to make an example out of Carlo.
While the NHL can’t just arbitrarily slap a five-game ban on Carlo, the league will look to find the harshest applicable punishment. Yes, there is a desire to address the incident itself. But because it happened this early in the season, the league will want to send a message.
Now, it’s tough to tell if there was really any malice in the hit. Since it was an open-ice hit, the circumstances are not in Carlo’s favor. The league could argue that the Blues defenseman had a chance to evade the collision, placing the responsibility squarely on his shoulders. If that’s the case, he could face a one or two-game suspension.
If the league wants to be lenient, Carlo could face the maximum financial penalty allowed by the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.
At the end of the day, it’s tough to see that Carlo, who saw firsthand what happened to Auston Matthews last season, finds himself in this situation. You would think that last season’s experience would make him more cognizant of such situations.
But then again, hockey is one of the fastest sports on the planet. And it seems that a split-second decision led to this incident. It seems that it just looked a heck of a lot worse than it really was.
For everyone’s sake, let’s hope that’s the case.
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