[link_box id=”22277″ site_id=”17″ layout=”link-box-third” alignment=”alignright”]The Boston Bruins aren’t willing to include promising young defender Brandon Carlo in trade talks, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.ca.
Speaking during Saturday’s Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Friedman said the Bruins whiffed at the idea of trading Carlo, even in the rumored package for Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog.
“There was talk this week between Colorado and Boston about (Gabriel) Landeskog, and for the second time this year, Boston has told teams ‘we’re not trading that guy.”
So why not include the 20-year-old in trade talks? Carlo’s potential as a top-pairing defenseman might be too tantalizing.
At 6’5″, the 2015 second-round pick has impressive size. He’s posted a 52.5 Corsi For despite 35 percent of his faceoffs starts coming in the defensive zone. Offensively, he’s probably not going to eclipse 25 points any time soon, as Carlo’s currently at eight in 43 games, but he’s showing to a be a tremendous defensive player. As a rookie, he’s averaging 21+ minutes per night. Carlo’s been extremely valuable for the Bruins.
The Bruins would do well to sell high on Carlo if it means bringing in a top-flight player like Landeskog. But, I understand defenseman are at a premium and Boston has a damn good one in Carlo.
[theScore]
