Former Maple Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo is staring down what could be a significant NHL suspension after a knee-on-knee collision in his first game with the St. Louis Blues.
The 29-year-old was tossed early in the third period of Friday night’s game against the Dallas Stars after he drove Dallas center Roope Hintz with a knee-first hit. Carlo was handed a five-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct for the play, and supplementary discipline appears likely.
Hintz went down on the ice and had to be helped off after the collision, though he later returned to the game. That detail matters, because it could shape how the league views the incident when deciding any punishment.
The NHL has been trying to crack down on knee-on-knee contact, and this was the latest flashpoint in that effort. The league has made it clear it wants to discourage these hits because of the damage they can cause. The source points to Radko Gudas’ hit on Auston Matthews last March as the most recent comparable incident, one that ended Matthews’ season and led to surgery.
In that case, the injury severity played a major role in Gudas receiving a five-game suspension. Hintz returning to the game could make the final ruling on Carlo less severe, with one game or a sizable fine presented as the more likely outcomes.
Still, the league will be looking to send a message. Since the incident came this early in the season, there’s an added incentive to make the punishment meaningful, even if the NHL can’t simply hand out a suspension without proper cause.
There’s also the question of intent. Because the hit happened in open ice, the league could decide Carlo had enough time to avoid the collision, which would put the responsibility on him and potentially push the penalty into the one- or two-game range. If the NHL chooses to go lighter, the maximum financial penalty under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement is also on the table.
It’s an ugly moment for Carlo, especially given that he saw what happened to Matthews last season. The whole thing may have been a split-second decision that looked worse in real time than it truly was. For the Blues defenseman, though, the fallout is likely just beginning.
In Other News...
Leafs Let Ottawa Off The Hook When It Mattered Most
After a 3-2 loss to the Senators, Jim Hiller had plenty to unpack about a game that slipped away in familiar fashion. The Maple Leafs created looks, saw the puck ring off posts and crossbars, and got a few encouraging shifts from the Tavares line, but the finish never came. Hiller said the missed chances were part of the story, along with penalties that stalled momentum and left Toronto chasing the game instead of controlling it.
The late push only added to the frustration. Toronto had a 6-on-5 power-play opportunity in the final moments, but the sequence never turned into the kind of sustained pressure the Leafs needed, and Hiller pointed to fatigue setting in as the clock wound down. It left the night with the same sour feeling that follows so many close losses: enough chances to change the result, not enough execution when it mattered most. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Face Another McDavid Question They Cannot Ignore Early
The NHLs early 2026-27 schedule has been a little looser and a lot louder, with scoring up across the league and some of that being traced to a shortened preseason that left teams with less time to sort things out. In that backdrop, the salary-cap conversation around the Maple Leafs has taken on a different tone, because deals that once drew plenty of criticism are starting to look a lot less cumbersome as the leagues financial ceiling keeps climbing.
For Toronto, that matters because team-building questions never really go away in a cap system, they just change shape depending on the market. What used to look like a roster burden can suddenly look like cost certainty, and thats part of the contrast being drawn as the Leafs contract picture is viewed against a league where Edmonton is still hearing outside noise about Connor McDavids future, even if that speculation has little grounding in anything McDavid himself or the Oilers have indicated. [Read more 🡒]
Leafs Got An Opening Ottawa Could Not Afford To Give Away
Ottawas back end took a hit in the first period against the Maple Leafs when Jake Sanderson left the game injured and did not return. The status of the injury is still unclear, including whether it has anything to do with a previous issue, but his absence immediately changed the feel of the matchup and gave Toronto a chance to push the pace.
The Leafs wasted little time taking advantage, scoring twice in a row after Sanderson exited to grab a 2-1 lead. In a game where every shift mattered, Ottawa could not afford to lose one of its top defensemen, and Toronto quickly showed why those kinds of openings rarely stay closed for long. [Read more 🡒]