The Boston Bruins gave Fraser Minten a seven-year extension on Tuesday, with the former Maple Leaf earning a staggering $7.2M per season going forward.
Minten, 22, appeared in all 82 games for the Bruins in 2025-26, recording 17 goals, 35 points and 142 hits while leading all rookie skaters in plus/minus (plus-21), and was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month in January 2026.
Toronto originally gave Boston Minten, a conditional first-round pick and a fourth-rounder for Carlo in 2025. Carlo then produced just 10 assists in 75 regular-season games for the Leafs before Toronto flipped him to St. Louis for picks No. 73 and 76 in 2026.
-
Boston just valued Minten at $7.2M per year after Toronto traded him before his breakout
Bruins GM Don Sweeney was thrilled to keep Minten around long-term, and had nothing but praise for him and how he helped change Boston's lineup for the better since arriving:
We are excited to have signed Fraser to a long-term extension. Since joining our organization, Fraser has continued to grow and earn the accelerated trust of his teammates and coaching staff.
His hockey sense, competitiveness, responsible two-way game, and offensive growth make him a valuable player for our group. This is a mutual long-term commitment that reflects our confidence in Fraser and the important role he will play, as well as Fraser's belief in our team moving forward.
Minten's contract certainly shows the level that teams are willing to go to in order to keep young talent around, as his $7.2M AAV marks a staggering increase from his prior $837,499 entry-level deal - and with the cap ever rising, his contract will begin to appreciate sooner.
For comparison, that new contract would see Minten being paid more than his former Maple Leafs teammate John Tavares, as well as nearly on par with the long-term extension that Matthew Knies signed with Toronto, coming in at $7.75M per season.
Toronto has already cashed out of the Carlo trade while Boston is still building around its return
Though this contract is essentially the final nail in the coffin of the horrendously rushed Brandon Carlo deal. Toronto sending Minten and two picks to the Bruins at the last minute for Carlo was a failure, and as we saw - Minten broke out in a hurry.
The Maple Leafs don't even have Carlo around anymore given that they trade him at the draft for the 73rd and 76th overall picks in 2026. If Carlo was around and able to be the player Toronto expected then perhaps this deal wouldn't be as wild on the surface.
But it shows that Toronto very well could have had Minten for roughly the same price as Knies and also have been able to use him as not only a top-six threat, but someone who could have been the solution for Toronto's defensive woes up front but was traded before he really had a chance to show what he could do.
Toronto has already moved on from Carlo, but Minten's extension ensures the original deal will keep being judged for years. Boston now has a 22-year-old locked up through 2033-34, while Toronto's remaining return from the Carlo chapter is tied to what it eventually gets from those two third-round picks.
Do you think Fraser Minten deserves his $7.2M per year salary?
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Maple Leafs just gained years of control over one prospect without using a contract slot