The Boston Bruins knew they would lean heavily on Brandon Carlo in a transitional year on the back end. The Colorado Springs native ascended to the second longest-tenured Boston defensemen after Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug departed respectively for Washington and St. Louis in the off-season.
Carlo gained significant knowledge of NHL life skating with Chara and Krug during his first four seasons. He adapted well in different assignments next to a big shutdown guy in Chara and an offensive-minded blue-liner in Krug.
Now he’s one of the anchors on the right-side of the blue-line along with Charlie McAvoy.