B’s ink Carlo to long-term deal
D-man gets six-year contract
The Bruins solidified a foundational piece of their defense corps on Wednesday, albeit one that has suffered a couple of cracks by way of injury in his stillyoung career.
The B’s inked steady second-pair blueliner Brandon Carlo to a six-year deal that will carry a $4.1 million salary cap hit, leaving the B’s approximately $26 million to potentially sign David Krejci, Taylor Hall, Tuukka Rask, Mike Reilly and whatever help the B’s still desperately need on defense.
Carlo is coming off an injury-riddled season in which he suffered a concussion and an oblique injury that limited him to 27 regular-season games and then a second concussion (at least the third of his career) that ended his playoff run in the third game against the Islanders.
But when healthy, Carlo can be a difference-maker. He certainly was in the Bruins’ 2019 run to the Stanley Cup Final, which was his first opportunity to compete in the playoffs after late regular-season injuries (concussion, broken leg) ended his first two NHL seasons. Had he not been injured on a Cal Clutterbuck hit, he very well could have helped the B’s at least get past the Islanders this season.
With regard to his most recent concussion, Carlo said that he’s back to feeling 100%. He’s been doing some off-ice training and expects to begin his usual on-ice offseason program next week.
“I’ve been feeling great, completely back to normal,” said Carlo. “My recovery was pretty quick within that guideline, and I felt very good. Everything is good there; training has been going well. That hasn’t thrown me off in any way. I’m just continuing to excel in that and I’m feeling really good.”
Carlo said that he never questioned his playing future after his latest concussion.
“No, personally, I’ve never felt like that,” said Carlo. “I definitely recognize that these injuries can affect people in different ways, and it’s something to be taken very seriously. But for myself, with the way that I recovered from my concussions and through the injury process, I never felt, in any way, shape, or form, that my career was going to be ending any time soon. I think, just going through all of these situations, I’ve learned more and grown a lot from it. From the focal point of if it was going to affect me going forward, I don’t feel that way. I’m still a young guy, I still feel very sharp in my mind. I feel great in my body.”
According to the salary website capfriendly.com, Carlo will be paid $2.5 million in the first year, $3.5 million the second, $4.7 million plus a $1 million signing bonus in the third year, $5.45 million the fourth year, $4.2 million in the fifth and $3.2 million in the final year of the deal. In the third and fourth years of the deal, he’ll have a partial no-trade clause in which he’ll have to submit a 10-team no-trade list, which drops to an eightteam list in the fifth year and three-team list in the final year.
Carlo will be 30 years old when the deal is up.
Exactly who his partner will be could well be determined in the coming weeks in either the trade or freeagent markets, but he feels most comfortable with an offensive-minded D-man.
“For me, I’ve always loved playing with puck-moving guys. Offensive guys. I feel like I pride myself on the defensive aspect of my game for a long time now,” said Carlo.
Carlo will be expected to grow into even more of a leader of this team throughout the life of the contract as long-term core players retire, something he relishes.
“When they came to me with a six-year deal, it was a huge compliment, recognizing within the room there’s areas where I want to become a leader and step up and be a leader. There’s a lot more room for that going forward. I think this contract kind of reflects on that,” said Carlo.
In fact, the signing came on the same day that one of those leaders retired. Kevan Miller, his knee ravaged to a point he could no longer continue playing, had a profound effect on Carlo.
“Probably the guy that I’ve grown closest with the past couple of years, he’s been a huge mentor of mine,” said Carlo. “We’ve had many conversations and coming to the league, being a right-handed defenseman and playing in similar roles, he did such a good job handling me and helping me along the way. I just want to congratulate him on his retirement, and I wish I could have played many more years with him, but I’m very thankful for the time that I did get and the lifelong friendship that we’ll have.”