Relationships past and present crucial for Maple Leafs' Brandon Carlo
Article content
Brandon Carlo was steeling himself on Tuesday.
The Maple Leafs defenceman figured he might have a certain ex-teammate chattering in his ear when the Leafs and Florida Panthers clashed at Scotiabank Arena.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Relationships past and present crucial for Maple Leafs' Brandon Carlo Back to video
That would be Brad Marchand, who was traded to the Panthers by the Boston Bruins not long after the Bruins shipped Carlo to the Leafs before the National Hockey League trade deadline hit on March 7.
“It’ll be interesting to see what kind of dirt he has on me, maybe he will leave it off to the wayside,” Carlo said. “But I’m sure I will hear something.”
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Truth be told, Carlo, Marchand and some of their former teammates who also were traded, including Charlie Coyle (Colorado) and Trent Frederic (Edmonton), have been keeping in touch since they were dealt.
“It was a crazy time, crazy experience for all of us involved but, through all of it, it has been nice having those guys to lean on and gain a little bit of comfort in a way, knowing we are all going through it together,” Carlo said. “I’ve been appreciative of that. You are thankful for the friendships you have made along the way.”
How about the challenge of playing against Marchand for the first time in the NHL?
“It will be fun,” Carlo said. “I’ve had a lot of battles with him in practice over the years. He was a guy that we tried to go against each other in drills, to have that compete level in practice. It’ll be funny to see him across the hash mark, for sure.
“You’re going out there to compete and battle for your team regardless and friendships get put aside for the time being, but afterwards you can throw a text or say hi or go to dinner.”
The Bruins have fallen off a cliff since the deadline. After winning their first two games in the days that followed, they’ve gone 0-8-1 in their past nine games and have slid to the bottom of the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Buffalo Sabres.
For Carlo, the new relationships in Toronto include his on-ice partnership with Morgan Rielly and the communication that goes into it. Going into Wednesday, the two were together for 12 games; in 142 minutes of five-of-five play, the pair was on the ice for seven Leafs goals and five against.
With no changes to the defence pairs expected on the Toronto blue line before the playoffs, barring injuries, it’s imperative that Carlo and Rielly form a solid working relationship.
“I love playing with guys like Mo,” Carlo said. “His capability of moving the puck makes me feel really comfortable in the defensive zone, getting it over to him, knowing we will be able to make some good plays.
“He has been doing a great job communicating with me as well, defensively, on rush reads, I’m really starting to recognize his voice and him with my voice as well. It has been great. It’s an ideal partnership.
“You can hear him for sure. He has been loud and when you’re assertive like that, something I’ve learned a lot throughout my time in the NHL is that communication is huge.
“We’ve been doing a good job of bouncing back and forth off each other.”
X: @koshtorontosun
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.