As the trade deadline last Friday was approaching, I think I speak for all Leaf fans in saying that I was left wanting more from Brad Treliving when the time struck three o'clock. The Leafs still needed to add one piece: a shutdown defenseman who could hopefully put up with Morgan Reilly's poor defensive play.
Of course, trades always happen right at the deadline. They are sometimes announced well after the "official" deadline, and that was the case when the report came out that Brad Marchand was dealt from one division rival to another as he was sent to the Florida Panthers from the Boston Bruins in a trade that must've made millions of Leafs fans stress about the potential of facing the longtime Bruin for yet another year in the playoffs, but this time with more pests on his side.
Marchand wasn't the only deal announced after the deadline, as the Leafs acquired long and rangy defenseman Brando Carlo from the Bruins. This is exactly the type of deal the Leafs needed to make, as they desperately needed to acquire a solid defenseman like Carlo to play with a struggling Reilly.
Carlo has blocked the 20th most pucks in the NHL this season, according to StatMuse. With the addition of Carlo, the Leafs now have two d-men in the top 20 in blocked shots, as Chris Tanev is 5th on that list.
Carlo Fitting a Similar Mold to Leaf defenseman in the Past
If there's one winner at this year's trade deadline, it's Reilly, as the Leafs have found yet another reliable stay-at-home defenseman for him to play alongside. In the past, we've seen Rielly excel with strong puck movers - his best stats have come with TJ Brodie and Ron Hainsey, and despite not playing a ton with Tyson Barrie and Jake Gardiner, they always did well together.
Rielly's best long-term partners have bene Brodie and Hainsey. Both were smart puck-movers who excelled at defense despite not being your typically huge stay-at-home defender. Rielly has also found success with Luke Schenn and Ilya Lyubushkin, which suggests that any solid defender helps Rielly's game.
Reilly's 2018-19 season with Hainsey by his side was his best; he finished with 72 points, but he was also in his prime. Realistically, Reilly isn't ever going to top that season - he doesn't have a Norris Trophy to his name, but that was probably the closest he's ever got. Three seasons later, the Leafs signed TJ Broadie in free agency from Calgary, another reliable stay-at-home defenseman with a very active stick.
Reilly's previous success with stay-at-home defensemen is hard to neglect, which is why Treliving traded for Carlo. Hoping Reilly can replicate the success he's had with players of a similar mold to Carlo, at least in the scoring department, as the Leaf's d-core has some of the worst offensive numbers in the league this season, not to mention the Leafs are already one of the most top-heavy team's in the league.
The odds of success would be better if Carlo was a stronger puck mover, but he is a better player than either Schenn or Lyubushkin, so he should help make Rielly better than he's been doing with Phillippe Myers. The very fact that the Leafs added a top-four defender to pair with Rielly makes him the biggest winner of the deadline, even if he's not likely to return to the levels he reached with Ron Hainsey.