'He Has It': How Trust In Fraser Minten Has Allowed Bruins To Win Their Trade With Maple Leafs So Quickly
Following a 2025 trade for Brandon Carlo, former Toronto prospect Fraser Minten has defied expectations to become the Bruins' top-line center while the Maple Leafs face their first playoff absence in a decade.
Video Transcript
I'm-- what, what's one notch below all hope is lost?
Like, most hope is lost?
'Cause I think- Very little hope is left?
I think that's what it is.
Yeah, yeah.
I think most hope is lost.
Like, the fact that they had the Florida State back to back, I think it was kind of the best thing for them coming out of the Olympic break because- Mm-hmm it was like, it was like a clean break.
Like if they'd- Right won both those games, then I think the Leafs could've been like, "All right, okay.
Maybe we got something here."
Sure.
"We'll ride this momentum.
You know, we still probably have to win, like, 18 games down the stretch."
Right.
"But hey, you know, we, we took on these challenges."
But in dropping both of them and not really being close, it's like, all right, it's, it's done, you know?
Now we need to- What are we doing?
Yeah, you know, what can we do in the future?
you know, well, I shouldn't even say the future.
What, what should we do at the trade deadline?
Exactly.
And I think that's important for Toronto now and for Jim Bettcher Living to say, "Okay, how much do I need to strip this down?"
Like, even forecasting for next season, I, I, I think this is something- Yeah I, and I'm sh- yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure organizations do this, and I think they should, where it's like, "Okay, you're not winning this year.
With the players you have right n- now, do you believe you can win next year?"
And if the answer's no- then you have to look at all options on the table.
Yeah.
What are your assets you can move out, in order to get young players, draft picks, which frankly, the Leafs have a paucity of right now.
They don't have a lot of help coming in the coming years.
so I, I think they're basically toast.
Yeah.
one more game would probably do it, I think.
But I think it's a good thing because th- then it's sort of like, okay, let's go into the trade l- deadline with our eyes wide open.
Ryan, you asked what's one notch below what hope, how much, like, when all hope is lost.
Yeah.
What's one notch ahead of that?
Because I think that's where the Leafs are right now.
We're past that.
Yeah, like for, for- Burn it, burn it all.
Yeah.
Like, the, the, this year's playoffs is completely, I, I think, you know, unreachable.
But now I think you're having those discussions of, you know, aside from the deadline where you're gonna lose some players, you know, what does this mean for the future of Auston Matthews?
And I'm hearing those discussions now in a very real and kinda sobering way.
Yeah.
And let's not forget, like, he's, he doesn't have that many years left on his deal, and, you know, the Leafs could get in a situation where they're thinking, "Okay, if, you know, if this isn't a team that is one piece away from contending," and, you know, it looks like there's holes everywhere in the lineup, not just on defense or not just at the forward spot.
But, you know, if, if you're talking about, and you mentioned, like, you know, what does this look like next year?
Well, it looks like a team that's probably gonna miss the playoffs next year as well.
And if that's the case, you know, do you start saying to yourself, "Maybe it's time to move on from Auston Matthews while he still has a ton of term left," and, well, not ton, but he still has term left where you can get a big return, a la Quinn Hughes and, you know, Vancouver Canucks having to rip that Band-Aid off and make that deal.
So, you know, that, that's where I think the Leafs are right now as an organization, is having to make those hard decisions and looking, you know, realistically at what the future holds.
