Welcome back into the world's most trusted weekly salary cap article; if you want to talk numbers then you've come to the right place. This week, we're going back to the deadline and hitting all the impactful moves that I wasn't able to get to last week with the massive Mikko Rantanen sign-and-trade that took place.

The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Brandon Carlo from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Fraser Minten, a conditional 2026 1^st round pick (TOR, top 5 protected), 2025 4^th round pick (PHI)

This won't be the last time we go to Boston, or Toronto for that matter. Starting off with the Leafs, you can point to different reasons why the regular season success has not translated over to the playoffs but just from the outside looking in, I have always felt that their blue line has often been too small which hurts them. There have been offseason or deadlines where they have brought in players to remedy this issue like Jordie Benn, Luke Schenn, or Jake Muzzin who I distinctly remember sending a text to a friend in my fantasy hockey league saying that I liked that trade (in the moment I really did). The only one I didn't understand was Joel Edmundson, but the past is the past. Adding Brandon Carlo wasn't a name that I saw rumored out there, but this makes a lot of sense, and he realistically could fit very well on this club. Carlo can be a top pair defenseman, go out onto the PK, and brings some "sandpaper", as I saw one outlet call it. My guess is he's a roll of Dura-Gold but need to grind some more tape to make the correct assessment. I'm going to guess that Brandon Carlo is probably not on many rosters out there for fantasy but if he is I can only assume that you're in a 14-person league with over twenty roster spots. If that's the case, I'd like to personally thank you for your service. This deal keeps Toronto below the salary cap with Max Pacioretty and Jani Hakanpaa on LTIR and will have two more seasons of Carlo at $3.45M AAV. No secret, the decisions Toronto will have to make this offseason are all at forward, but as far as the blueline is concerned, I would prefer to see an entry level, or low AAV dollar amount allocated to that position group but this is a team that will have their set group of blueliners for at least the next three seasons unless something changes.  

For Boston, the name of the game here is re-stock the prospect pool. Maybe "re-stock" isn't even accurate, more like "stock" the prospect pool. I've gone up and down the list of players that the B's have in their organization and it's staggering how little talent that they have coming up the pipe in the near future. I wasn't sure if I thought Fraser Minten, who came back in the deal, is a 'good' prospect or just a piece that I perceived to be good because he's previously in the Toronto organization where we hear about these players often. I will say, I do think that he is a legitimately good player and if all works out as forecasted, will be a nice addition to a Boston team that I don't need a crystal ball to see will need help down the middle in the near future. The picks that they received back are fine, even with the rolling conditions on the Leafs first rounder that came back in the deal. I speak to my dynasty people on Minten's status as a productive fantasy forward, which I'd lean more certainty than not that he becomes one. Boston will retain 15% of Carlo's contract at $615K until 2026-27, while this maxed out their allotted salary retentions for the season, they will have two retainer spots come available next year (Brad Marchand, Trent Frederic).

The Avalanche acquired Charlie Coyle and a 2026 5^th round pick (BOS) from the Bruins in exchange for Casey Mittelstadt, a conditional 2026 2^nd round pick (CAR), Zellers William

Let's start with the Avalanche here, and this is a strange one to me. It is not strange in regard to the deal itself, that I understand, but strange on how we got to this point. Last season when the Avalanche moved on from Bowen Byram to acquire Casey Mittelstadt, they were onboarding a player that had 14 goals already along with 33 assists, who was in his age 25 season. Last offseason, he was rewarded with a three-year deal worth $17.25M ($5.75 AAV), and you guys know me, I love centre depth on a contending team. That said, Mittelstadt started slow this season and just never seemed to really stick on either the Colorado second line, or at times, the top power play unit center. With that, they flipped Mittelstadt to Boston for Charlie Coyle, who I like as a player and slightly cheaper than Mittelstadt but had to throw in a second-round pick in order to make the trade. One of my favorite things in hockey is when a club makes a mistake, then tries to cover that up by making a trade, this is what the Senators have done at times over the past few seasons. Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather have Coyle taking faceoffs come playoffs in a few weeks' time, but how we got to this point was odd for a club like Colorado. If you're rostering Coyle in fantasy or thinking of doing so, he'll be an impactful player on a checking line and odds will see his offense improve slightly.

For Boston, I love this for them. They get a second-round pick, a prospect, and they lose Coyle for another year, but the Bruins aren't going anywhere this season anyway and I'd rather have two more seasons of Casey Mittelstadt plus all the assets in return, than one more season of Coyle. I don't see the risk for Boston on this one at all, if Mittelstadt can get back to the player that he was when he came over to Colorado from Buffalo, then you just gained a good second line center under 30, and if it doesn't work out oh well, you took a flyer on a player with pieces coming back in a deal. It's a $500K hit to exchange players right now, but that's not a price that worries me at all for this type of transaction. I would think that Mittelstadt is probably a rental player in DFS, but one to keep an eye on if he's given higher line center opportunities in Boston.

The Oilers acquired Jake Walman from the Sharks in exchange for Carel Berglund and a conditional 1^st round pick (EDM)

For the Oilers, I love Jake Walman as a player and couldn't believe that the Blues dealt him for Nick Leddy (who probably lost the Chicago Blackhawks a chance to go to another Stanley Cup against the Los Angeles Kings, thanks bud), and really couldn't believe why the Red Wings gave up on him, moving him along with a second rounder, to the Sharks. Again, Detroit. Buddy. Pal. For as much as I love the player, I don't 100% see the fit in Edmonton as crazy as it sounds. When the Oilers traded for Mattias Ekholm in 2023, I immediately considered them as club to watch as I considered his type of play to be everything that Edmonton needed. He keeps pucks in the zone, extending time in the OZ, giving McDavid and Co. more exposure on offense. Sure, it didn't work out immediately, but this is the type of defensemen I had considered them going after. Walman on the other hand, is offensive minded, and while I don't hate the idea of a D jumping up into play, I worry about this on a crowded blueline, especially on the left side where Walman is probably more comfortable. He has played some left D, but it's a log jam on the opposite side, so I don't think he moves over full-time. From a cap standpoint, I don't mind Edmonton taking on the $3.4M price tag as they'll have both plenty of turnover this coming offseason with a rising cap, and only one long-term deal on the blueline in Darnell Nurse. Draft picks aside, adding Walman won't hinder what they'll be able to do this offseason (key word "this"), with just south of $15M coming available to them, which is right around of the middle of the pack going into this summer. For fantasy, he's out of San Jose, which is a win, but I want to see how he fits along the Edmonton blueline, with him being a higher rostered player as well, you'll need to see how his schedule looks going forward into fantasy playoffs on a new team.

On the San Jose side, their asset management has been incredible this season. They have turned Mackenzie Blackwood from a sixth-round pick in 2023, to a 2^nd rounder 2026, Mikael Granlund coming over in the Erik Karlsson deal for a 2025 1^st round pick, and now Jake Walman is moved in return for another first-round pick. Sure, there are conditions on the 1^st round pick coming back from Edmonton, but it will still end up a first-round selection and not slide down to the later rounds. The prospect they received in return is already 25 and odds are an AHL'er, make no mistake that this was about getting a first back in return. If this is the trial period that we are seeing with this front office group, then I would imagine that this will not be a situation of seemingly endless rebuilding and questionable spending. If I can point to two positions that hinders success with new front office groups, often times it's either "bad" money on the blue line (Vancouver a few seasons back), or insurmountable dead cap money (Minnesota until this offseason). These are hard hills to climb but San Jose has the luxury to not have either of these issues to prohibit spending or ensuring long-term success in accordance with the salary cap. Good job by you, Sharks

The Panthers acquired Brad Marchand from the Bruins in exchange for a 2027 conditional second round pick

The time has finally come, let's break this one down. Starting off with the Panthers, the internet streets were buzzing that come playoffs there's a potential of a line that would include Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand – Matthew Tkachuk. That line if it were to come to fruition, is going to be a pain in everyone's side but when I saw this deal come to me via text in a client meeting that I was of course paying attention to (sort of…), my thoughts immediately went to special teams. Marchand might be one of the best penalty killers we've seen and if there's one weak spot we can turn to with Florida, it's the number of times they get shown the door to the penalty box. If those issues persist, then they have what I can only assume is an improved PK with Marchand included. The cap hit doesn't worry me as it's the last year of an eight-year deal, with Boston retaining just over $3M.

Okay…now to Boston. I'm not going to pretend I know just how impactful this trade was to the city, fans, and organization. I just can't put myself in that spot but was on a call with a Bruins fan recently and sharing their sentiment, "If you told me at Christmas that 63 would not finish the season with Boston via trade, I wouldn't believe you." The closest comparison I can give you all is when the Blackhawks dealt Patrick Kane, the return was similar. A second-round pick, a behind-the-scenes video of the GM on the phone announcing the trade, and then a photo of him in a different sweater later in the week. I will say, I agree with the opinions online that Boston either A) Should have gotten more in return on this deal, or B) Why move the player at all? I don't see how on their bottom-line how each side would have been on complete opposite ends on either AAV or term. Morgan Geekie will likely get a pay raise, but is arb eligible, and the same goes for Mason Lohrei. This one was a head-scratcher for me.

*Salary Cap data from PuckPedia.com  

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