New Giants GM has fan in Bruins’ Carlo
Brandon Carlo isn’t the least bit surprised about the early success the Vancouver Giants are having on Barclay Parneta’s watch.
Parneta signed with the Giants as general manager last May, and Vancouver is off to a 10-2-2-0 start to the campaign, their best mark to this point in a WHL season since they went 11-0-0-3 to begin 2008-09.
Parneta came to Vancouver from the rival Tri-City Americans, where he was assistant general manager and head scout. Carlo was one of Parneta’s most notable finds in his eight years there, a 10th round pick in the 2011 WHL bantam draft out of Colorado Springs, Colo., who’s now playing topfour minutes for the Boston Bruins with his 22nd birthday coming up in November.
Carlo remains a Parneta fan.
“From Day 1, he had that presence about him and that hockey knowledge,” said Carlo, the 6-foot-5, 212-pound right-handed shooting blue liner who came through town last week with the Bruins to face the Vancouver Canucks. “I really enjoyed every second that I got to spend with him.
“He’s going to find a way to help his team have success, whether it’s as a head scout or as GM. He can find those hidden gems. That’s a little something he has in his back pocket.”
Giants fans can certainly hope he finds someone like Carlo. He was the 214th selection in his bantam draft. Two teams had quit drafting by the time he was picked. Only 20 players were chosen after him.
Vancouver Canucks winger Jake Virtanen was the first overall selection, with the Calgary Hitmen beginning proceedings by selecting the Abbotsford native. If you redid the draft based on today, Carlo would be an early selection, along with Virtanen and fellow NHL regulars Brayden Point (14th overall, Moose Jaw Warriors) and Jake DeBrusk (137th overall, Swift Current Broncos).
You could understand if WHL teams weren’t sure back then what to make of Carlo. He was a lanky kid, measuring in at 6-foot-2 and 156 pounds (he’s now 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds) when he took part in his Tri-City training camp that fall.
Parneta remembers Carlo playing forward at a pre-draft tournament in Dallas. And Colorado is prime NCAA hockey territory, and the WHL has rarely recruited players out of the state.
Parneta sold him on the idea of playing in the WHL and Carlo eventually signed with Tri-City in September, 2012, on his way to playing three seasons there.
“He’s been a huge influence on my hockey career,” Carlo explained. “He basically started the first steps of scouting me for junior.
“He’s become a family friend. I still communicate with him. He’s a great guy.”
The Bruins made Carlo a second-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, taking him 37th overall. With Charlie McAvoy joining Torey Krug on the sidelines, Carlo has been paired with Zdeno Chara of late. Carlo played a team-high 28:28 in the Bruins’ 4-1 win over the host Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. Through nine games, he was averaging 20:24 and had two assists to go with a plus-four rating.
Last season, he averaged 19:14 in 76 games and had six assists and a plus-10 rating.