Fraser Minten's reaction to hometown performance is a reminder of what the Maple Leafs gave up
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Boston Bruins forward Fraser Minten's post-game comments about his career night shows that in addition to his skills, the Maple Leafs may regret losing his passion.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs made the choice to trade Fraser Minten to the Boston Bruins at last year's deadline, they did so with the hopes that Brandon Carlo would be the shutdown defender they need alongside Morgan Rielly.
However injuries have prevented him from doing much, and while he's struggled so far to find his footing in Toronto, Minten is absolutely crushing it for the Bruins right now.
Fraser Minten overjoyed at hometown performance
Coming off his second two-goal performance of the season, Minten was ecstatic not only because his team came away with a 3-2 OT win, but the fact he scored in his hometown of Vancouver.
Speaking to Sportsnet's Scott Oake post-game, Minten was overcome with emotion and was almost left speechless as to how he felt after his performance on Saturday night:
Just pure joy, probably.
This game pushed Minten's season totals to 17 points in 42 games, and while that's not blowing anyone out of the water, his ability to play at both ends of the ice has solidified him firmly as Boston's 3C.
He's also winning nearly 50% of his face-offs, has a plus-eight rating, and 86 hits so far this year, and making an impact at both ends of the ice for one of Toronto's most heated rivals.
Plus you can see in his reaction how much this meant to him. He has that passion, as he could have been one of the players like Troy Stecher who ends up motivating and exciting the crowd and in turn; the team.
Toronto could have had trio of young prospects to lead them into the future
If you're a Maple Leafs fan you have to think that the team regrets trading Minten not only because of Carlo's inefficiency so far, but he would have made the perfect pivot in between Easton Cowan and Nick Robertson.
With all three being energetic, speedy forecheckers and given Minten's defensive capabilities, they would have had a lot of offensive chances while providing a glimpse into the future of Toronto's top-six.
However that isn't going to be the case, as Minten is likely going to be impactful for years to come in a Bruins uniform with is most assuredly going to haunt the Maple Leafs.
For all the trades Toronto made recently, this one may end up being the one they regret making the most, but at least Minten is making the best of it in Beantown.