If you know Kelly McCrimmon, he's not one to shy away from a trade. Vegas Golden Knights fans can point to the general manager acquiring Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin, and Tomas Hertl as perfect examples of his wheelin' and dealin' prowess. Heck, Mitch Marner was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a sign-and-trade.
However, the peeps over at Heavy Sports came across another trade proposal. This time, it involved a little-known man named Brett Howden going over to--you guessed it--the Maple Leafs.
This is essentially a one-for-one deal, with the Golden Knights acquiring the hard-hitting defenseman for Howden's services. Carlo himself wouldn't be a bad pickup. He has 915 career blocked shots and 975 career hits in nine seasons, making him a valuable defenseman.
That sounds nice and all. However, there are some issues with the trade. Looking at Howden, he's a valuable player himself, acting as a solid penalty killer and offensive piece. But the 27-year-old's contributions go beyond that. Why should Kelly McCrimmon laugh this trade proposal out of City National Arena for good?
Why Kelly McCrimmon shouldn't trade Brett Howden to the Maple Leafs for Brandon Carlo
I'm going to be 100% frank with you (not like the hot dog). There isn't much to the Golden Knights' wing position in the farm system. Sure, you have Trevor Connelly waiting in the "wings," along with Mathieu Cataford. However, what else is there after those two?
While Tuomas Uronen is rising quickly within the ranks, he still needs more seasoning in the minor leagues. It's still early for him to get a call-up, although he's working aggressively towards a promotion. Aside from that, there isn't anything else in the system to inspire hope.
Combine that with Reilly Smith and Brandon Saad becoming free agents after this season and that's a recipe for disaster. While the blue line isn't necessarily perfect, adding a $3.485 million cap hit to the books doesn't remedy that, even if it's for two seasons.
Besides, why would McCrimmon take on a higher cap hit in this scenario? Howden's $2.5 million deal works well for the wing group, especially after scoring 23 goals last season. Picking up a larger cap hit in a trade isn't how the general manager operates and that isn't changing any time soon.
That doesn't mean McCrimmon shouldn't pursue other defensive options on the Golden Knights
Let's get one thing straight here. The Golden Knights need a solid all-around defenseman. Badly.
We're talking about a 1D defenseman who'd fill in Alex Pietrangelo's role. That was a major reason why they won the 2023 Stanley Cup. Pietrangelo's all-around play and 100% effort led to a second Stanley Cup falling into his lap.
Unfortunately, Carlo isn't that player. Sure, he provides a defensive style that takes away space, shuts down opponents, and adds more size. However, you wouldn't replace Pietrangelo in this scenario. Instead, you'd replace Nicolas Hague. Not that there's anything wrong with Hague's game. It's just he was never the 1D defenseman in the Golden Knights system.
Remember that Pietrangelo also had offensive chops, boosting the power play as well. 148 assists and 38 power play assists in five seasons prove this, especially after he had 43 assists in 2022-23. A career-high of 15 isn't getting the job done or even close to matching that.
Could that come from someone like, say, Calgary? That would be the preferred deal, especially since Rasmus Andersson is closer to Pietrangelo's style. However, paying for a 6'5" blue liner with no offensive chops isn't cutting it.