Brandon Carlo wasn’t with the Toronto Maple Leafs for very long, but it was time for a fresh start.

Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka traded Carlo to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, landing the No. 73 and No. 76 picks overall. Toronto used the No. 73 pick on forward Zach Olsen, then selected defenceman Måns Gudmundsson with the No. 76 pick. With a lack of organizational depth, not only did Chayka feel it was important to reshape his blueline and move on from Carlo, landing two prospects to help restock some young talent was a vital detail for Toronto’s front office.

“Ultimately we felt the value was there for us in terms of future value and opportunity today to kind of restock the cupboards a bit. And for Brandon it was a fresh start and so I think that’s important to him,” Chayka said Saturday, after the draft concluded.

Carlo has one year left on his contract at $3.4 million AAV, and now joins the Blues, where he’ll look to reset himself heading into a contract year. He struggled to contribute throughout the lineup, and there wasn’t much of a specific role for him to play during the 2025-26 campaign. Carlo chipped in with 10 assists in 75 total games with the Leafs.

Former Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving traded a first, and fourth-round pick, along with Fraser Minten to land Carlo from the Boston Bruins at the 2025 NHL trade deadline. Heading into free agency, it will be interesting to see how Chayka handles the rest of his defensive core. There’s tons of cap space to work with and with a very creative general manager in charge, who loves to make deals, this Leafs’ roster is far from complete.

Chayka continues his overhaul of the blue line, during a summer where he’s traded Simon Benoit to the Philadelphia Flyers, acquired RFA defenceman Emil Andrae, and swung a seismic sign-and-trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning for Darren Raddysh.