Minten made his Providence debut against the Marlies on Wednesday night in Toronto.
When Fraser Minten rolled into Coca-Cola Coliseum on Wednesday, he was in a different dressing room, with new teammates, wearing a jersey quite distant from his usual one.
The 20-year-old was making his debut with the Providence Bruins in Toronto, five days after being traded from the organization he was now going up against.
"It was very weird, but it was fun," Minten told The Hockey News on Wednesday night after falling 4-2 to his former team.
"It’s weird to be on this side of the ice, these benches, this side of the dressing room. But cool to get to compete against those guys and tough loss that’ll be talked about for a long time by those guys," he added with a smile.
Were any chirps exchanged?
"You try not to look or listen because you’ll just start laughing," he said. "But yeah, just funny chirps."
Minten was traded to the Boston Bruins on Friday, the NHL trade deadline, along with a 2026 conditional first-round pick and a 2025 fourth-round pick for Brandon Carlo. Funny enough, when Boston acquired the young forward, the Marlies were in Providence to take on their AHL squad.
"It was a bit stressful, to be honest," Minten said of the entire day.
The center was having a strong season with the Marlies. He played in all situations, and crucial moments in the game. He even had a brief stint with the Maple Leafs, scoring two goals and four points in 15 games.
Minten admitted that he had an inkling something could happen before the deadline. He's a young, developing player with a lot of upside, and is likely to play a key role on an NHL team sooner than later.
"You can go on PuckPedia and see (the Leafs) don’t got that many assets, so you know it’s possible," Minten said.
"You’re kind of just refreshing your phone all day waiting. And yeah, a stressful day, but after you get the news, you just try to get your stuff together as quick as you can, make lots of phone calls, answer lots of texts, and move on to playing hockey and helping another team."
Minten was blown away by the number of messages he received after being traded away from Toronto: "Honestly, everyone reached out," he said.
"It was really cool to see guys from the Leafs, all the staff, like, all across — everybody. It was cool to see that there was that many people who were sad to see me go and it’s nice to have those relationships."
This wasn't a regular trade, though. Rarely do we see divisional rivals—especially teams like Boston and Toronto—make a deal where each team helps the other.
But after being drafted by the Maple Leafs in the second round (38th overall) in 2022, and witnessing the rivalry first-hand last spring, what was it like for Minten to put the yellow and black jersey rather than the blue and white?
"Ah, I mean, I love the Bruins. That’s my first thought," he said with a cheeky grin.
"It’s pretty special to get the opportunity to play pro hockey, so whatever team wants to believe in me, give me that chance, I’m going to do everything I can to help them win."
Since being drafted, Minten has spent a lot of time in Toronto, with development camps, training camps, and for a brief time last season, a stint in the NHL, before turning full-time pro this year.
Maple Leafs' Fraser Minten Wires Home First Career GoalWatch as Toronto Maple Leafs forward Fraser Minten blasts a feed from William Nylander past Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill for his first NHL goal ...When asked what he'll miss most about Toronto, he immediately said the Maple Leafs' fan base, which he got to play in front of this year.
"I think it’s an amazing, amazing place to play hockey. I think that the amount of attention you get is quite a privilege and makes it really cool to play every night," he said.
"People care about the team, people talk about the team. I think that’s something that you don’t get everywhere. And luckily, I think Boston’s pretty into that too. But, it’s cool to play a game that people care about."
Minten joins the Bruins organization with plenty of opportunity. He's projected to develop into a third line center and Boston will need that. He and Matthew Poitras, drafted in the same year, make up some of the organization's up-and-coming prospects.
As for expectations of when that NHL chance could come again, Minten isn't focusing on that. Instead, the young forward will let his work speak for itself, allowing him to put a Bruins jersey over his head when the team believes he's ready.
"Whatever happens with that stuff, like, I don’t really think about that," Minten said.
"Just practice, games, do everything I can, do my process to get better, and the staff there, just like the staff (in Toronto), they know when you’re ready. So you put in the work and your time will come if you do the right things over and over."
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