How a small break from the rink got Brandon Carlo back on track, ready to take step forward on Bruins blue line

LOS ANGELES — The start of Brandon Carlo’s offseason has followed the same script in each of his two full years up in the NHL ranks, much to the 22-year-old blueliner’s chagrin.

To be fair, 30 of the 31 teams in the NHL close out their campaigns on a sour note. But Carlo has had the misfortune of hanging up his skates close to a month earlier than the rest of his teammates, with injuries knocking him out of commission right before each of Boston’s last two appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Sidelined at the tail end of his rookie season after suffering a concussion in Boston’s regular-season finale, Carlo once again couldn’t catch a break during the 2017-18 season — with a fractured ankle putting an end to his sophomore year on March 31, just five games away from his postseason debut.

Would Carlo have turned the tide in postseason exits at the hands of the Senators and Lightning? Not likely. But for a dependable defenseman that had averaged 79 games a season up with the big club, getting relegated to the press box while his teammates battled on the ice was a tough pill to swallow.

“At first, it’s frustrating,” Carlo recently told BostonSportsJournal.com. “And then I think you get to the point where you get to accept it a little bit and know that you can’t really change it at that point. But overall, it’s a disappointing factor for sure, especially because it was my second time sitting out.”

Saddled with a scooter through the start of the summer, Carlo’s offseason itinerary was already going to be flipped on his head due to his ankle injury. But ever the workhorse, Carlo usually hasn’t let ailments take him away from the rink.

Even though said concussion cut his season short in 2017, Carlo didn’t take his foot off the gas that summer, spending his entire offseason in Boston training and working on his craft.

His overall offseason principles — adding muscle, eating healthy and not losing a step, conditioning-wise — didn’t change too much this summer for Carlo, although diverting most of his energy toward getting his buckled ankle healthy did open the door for a new summer routine: taking a break from hockey.



With a probable return to the ice not in the picture until the final week of June, Carlo opted to unplug for a bit — heading back home to Colorado Springs for the entire summer.

Coming off of what could have been viewed as a bit of a sophomore slump in 2017-18, along the disheartening way in which his season ended, putting hockey on the back burner for a bit was a refreshing change of pace for Carlo.

“Getting away from the game is really important, just enjoying some time off,” Carlo said. “When I was going to the same practice rink (in Boston) and whatnot every day, it didn’t really feel like I ever escaped. Going back home to Colorado was big.”

For as much as these athletes’ lives revolve around the game they love, they aren’t robots, as Torey Krug was quick to point out. Krug was in the same boat as Carlo to open the summer, stuck in a boot after fracturing his ankle in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Lightning.

But injury or not, Krug noted that he often diverts a solid chunk of time every offseason away from hockey, opting to get back on the ice weeks after a number of other players have already sharpened their skates and returned to the sheet. For Krug, the time off away from the rink is invaluable year after year — offering the chance to both spend time with family and friends, while also wiping the slate clean for a new season.

“You have to take that step back,” Krug said. “Especially for young players, and in (Carlo’s) situation, in his second full year here, he’s played in a lot of games the last couple years. Unfortunately, he’s had some bounces at the end of the year that really haven’t gone his way. I think it’s so important to stay mentally fresh, and sometimes it means getting away.”

Competence breeds confidence, and taking the time to flush away the trials and tribulations of last year while rehabbing back home allowed Carlo to start the 2018-19 season anew. A player like Carlo needs a short memory anyway — considering how he’s often the one that gets a tap on the shoulder during Boston’s most perilous defensive situations.

After logging close to 1,041 minutes of 5v5 TOI with Zdeno Chara in a standout rookie season, Carlo saw his numbers dip a bit during the 2017-18 campaign— with his scoring dropping from 16 to just six points all season, while the blueliner was eventually was saddled with his first career scratch in late February after posting a minus-5 rating over the span of four games.

Even when reunited with Chara, that pairing failed to rekindle the magic they developed a year prior, with the duo posting a minus-3 goal differential during 289 minutes of 5v5 play together.

Critiquing Carlo’s game is similar to that of an NFL offensive lineman — the more you notice them, the worse they’re playing. The defensive miscues, errant passes and blown tires have become far less prevalent this season for Carlo, with the refreshed and refocused defenseman starting to settle into a groove on Boston’s second D pairing with Krug.

"I think just overall I've been trying to find consistency in my game — that has been a big part of the things that I want to accomplish and I feel like this year, I’ve taken strides with that," Carlo said. "It’s definitely hard, you go through this full 82-game schedule and try to be on every single night, but I think — Butchie talks about having your A and B games and playing well within those moments, and that’s something that I feel like I’m continuing to grow in.”

While Carlo’s occasional lapses and Krug’s well-documented deficiencies in the defensive zone often led to some hazardous shifts between the both of them last year, the two have started to hit their stride as of late — boasting a plus-four goal differential in 295 minutes of 5v5 TOI, with Boston holding a 307-248 advantage in shot attempts during that stretch.

On the penalty kill, Carlo has logged the most minutes of any Bruin at 138 shorthanded minutes, but his power-play goals relinquished per 60 minutes of play measures out at 7.37 — the fifth-lowest mark on the B’s for skaters that have logged at least 50 minutes of PK duty.

He may not be flashy with how he goes about his business out on the ice, but Carlo is starting to round into form as a dependable, stay-at-home defenseman that can be a stalwart on a team’s blue line for years. A big factor in him carrying out that role lies in both consistency and confidence — two areas that the 6-foot-5 skater was lacking at times last year. 

“I think his consistency with defending,” Cassidy said of where Carlo has made the most improvement in his game this season. “He’s been grittier in that regard. That’s probably it, for the most part. Pretty effective guy every night for what we ask. Penalty kill has always been solid, but I think his defensive play. Not very often do I look at a game after and go, Geez, Brandon. … Rarely do I see much of him being out of position.