Despite the Toronto Maple Leafs' best efforts with their win streak through Western Canada, they still remain well out of the playoffs and the likelihood that they get there is low. Tie their spot in the standings with the lack of real pieces for the future, and the multiple reports that they are going to turn into a team that is selling off their pieces before the NHL trade deadline makes a whole lot of sense.
But, there is a player who has been repeatedly named in trade rumours who doesn't really want to go.
Brandon Carlo, the large right-handed defenseman that the Leafs gave up Fraser Minten and a first-round pick that will surely bite them back as part of a trade to acquire him last deadline, doesn't want to be moved. As the Leafs continue their season where playoffs seem like an impossible feat, the 29-year-old blueliner wants to stay in Toronto.
Brandon Carlo doesn't want to be traded by the Leafs
Brandon Carlo on the trade deadline: "I love it here. I want to stay here."
— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) February 4, 2026
"I love it here. I want to stay here," Carlo said after Tuesday night's win over the Oilers, via Sportsnet's Luke Fox.
Carlo is signed through next season at an incredibly digestible $3.485-million AAV as the Bruins retained part of his salary in the initial trade. He does also hold a modified no-trade clause where he can name eight teams that he cannot be traded to, and that goes down to just a three-team no-trade list in the final year of his deal.
There is some control he has, but it's also the Leafs' desire to try and move forward off of this season.
It has been a miserable experience in Toronto for the last few months that has led them down the path to having a 27-21-9 and the Bruins holding a five-point lead on them for the last Wild Card spot with a game in-hand. Playoffs seem incredibly unlikely, so therefore the move to potentially selling off as many pieces as they can handle has been conjured up.
No trades have been made thus far and unless there is a deal to be done in the next couple of hours at the time of writing, the Leafs will have only 12 days to make any trades following the Olympic roster freeze and before the March 6 trade deadline.
If they ever move Carlo, general manager Brad Treliving will need to get some sort of solid return as the initial trade to bring him to Toronto is currently looking like the biggest misstep in modern franchise history. A solid middle-six center and a first-round pick that could end up in the top 10, for a player that is doing just alright and is already heading into his 30s.
Carlo has five assists through 34 games this season while averaging 19:37 time-on-ice.