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'It Was A Bit Stressful': Former Maple Leafs Prospect Fraser Minten Reacts To Boston Trade, Taking On Former Team In Bruins Debut

Minten made his Providence debut against the Marlies on Wednesday night in Toronto.

Photo credit: Christian Bonin/TSGphoto.com

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 GoalMaple 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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How Post can unlock Kuminga upon long-awaited Warriors return

How Post can unlock Kuminga upon long-awaited Warriors return originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors’ season shifted from mid and mediocre to an exciting, dangerous team once they added Jimmy Butler at the NBA trade deadline. More than a month after his team debut, the Warriors are bringing in another piece that should increase their odds for the playoffs and more with one month left in the regular season. 

Jonathan Kuminga, after missing the last 31 games to a badly sprained right ankle, is expected to make his return Thursday night against the Sacramento Kings at Chase Center. Steve Kerr isn’t going to mess with momentum, meaning Kuminga will come off the bench in short spurts. In his return, and especially as he gets his legs back under him, everybody will want to see how Butler and Kuminga fit together as part of a potential closing lineup. 

Coaches have shown Kuminga film of how he can learn from Butler. Clips highlight the many ways Butler makes the game easier for himself and his teammates, keeping the ball moving but also using his strength and smarts to get to the free-throw line. Those are all traits Kuminga can learn from and continue to grow as an overall player. 

Yet somebody else who Kuminga hasn’t played with outside of a few seconds might be just as important. Can rookie center Quinten Post help unlock the best of Kuminga? 

Kerr tried going big to begin the season, starting Kuminga, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis together with Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins in the backcourt. Despite the Warriors’ record, Kuminga at small forward didn’t work. The three-man grouping of Kuminga, Green and Jackson-Davis played seven games together and had a -0.8 net rating with a 112.6 offensive rating and 113.5 defensive rating in 38 minutes. That’s where Post, who has overtaken Jackson-Davis’ spot in the rotation, comes into play. 

“I think me and JK will be a great fit together,” Post said to reporters Wednesday at Warriors practice. “Just adds another athletic guy out there with size, length. I think he’s going to help us out on defense, adding another body to the mix. And then offensively he’s just somebody who puts a lot of pressure on the rim.

“Hopefully that leads to a lot of open shots for me.” 

Butler’s ability to use his playmaking skills and brute strength in getting to the paint has been huge for Post. The two have played 157 minutes together in Butler’s 13 games and have a 13.0 net rating – 119.6 offensive rating and 106.5 defensive rating. 

The best strategy for Kuminga has always been surrounding him with shooters and connectors like Post and Butler. There’s a reason why the players Kuminga has shared the floor with most this season has been Buddy Hield, Brandin Podziemski, Green and Curry. Last season, he played the most minutes with Curry and Klay Thompson. The year before that, Kuminga’s second season, he spent his most minutes alongside Jordan Poole, Donte DiVincenzo and Thompson. 

But as a rookie, Kuminga played 460 minutes sharing the floor with Nemanja Bjelica, perhaps the closest comparison to Post since the Warriors drafted Kuminga in 2021. Bjelica shot 36.2 percent on 2.1 3-point attempts in his only season playing for the Warriors, at 33 years old in what was his final NBA season. 

Post through his first 27 NBA games is taking four 3-pointers per game and shooting 41.7 percent from deep. 

“In theory, they should be pretty good together on offense, because you have the spacing of QP and the slashing of JK,” Kerr said. “I imagine we’ll find some lineup where those guys are together, too.”

Back in training camp, Kuminga declared himself a small forward. Kerr made it known he believes he’s a power forward. The caveat was putting Kuminga next to a stretch big. It’s part of what made a possible trade for Lauri Markkanen or Nikola Vučević so intriguing. 

The Warriors now have an in-house option to pair him next to. 

Podziemski’s lower back soreness will keep him out of the Warriors’ game Thursday night against the Kings. Post likely will start, joining Curry, Butler, Green and Moses Moody. Whether it’s early in the game, the middle or end, the duo to pay close attention to will be a rookie and the re-emergence of what Kuminga can bring to a team that now views themselves as contenders.

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Atlético Madrid’s torment goes on – Real are the nightmare they can’t wake up from | Sid Lowe

Diego Simeone’s side lost to their city rivals yet again, in a fashion that was unbelievable and yet so very believable

One day, Diego Simeone said, in those quiet moments when they are alone with their thoughts and memories, Real Madrid’s players will think of Atlético Madrid and how they made them suffer. But the real trauma, he knows, will for ever be theirs. In the final moments before this latest European derby, the first at the Metropolitano, a huge mosaic had declared that following Atlético “kills me … and gives me life”. At the end of it, once fate had found another, still crueller way of twisting the knife, of delivering the inevitable, the coach pushed his footballers and his fans together, applauding so hard his hands hurt almost as much as their hearts.

“I am proud of them,” he said afterwards. “I am happy, honestly. I am happy. I am happy. Why? Because we competed in a way that was exemplary. We might not have been able to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League. Sure. Of course. We couldn’t. But they had a bad time of it, every time. They will remember us for a long time. While enjoying having beating us, but knowing and saying to themselves: ‘Facing that lot was messed up, look how hard they made it for us, always.’ Our people leave with the pain of having been knocked out, of course, but knowing that their team gave everything. I go in peace. Losing, but in peace.”

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Columbus Blue Jackets (70 pts) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (83 pts) Game Preview

Columbus Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger (4) scores a goal against Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Ilya Samsonov (35) during an overtime period to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 victory at T-Mobile Arena (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images)

The Columbus Blue Jackets welcome the Vegas Golden Knights into Nationwide Arena on Thursday. The Blue Jackets won their only meeting of the season in Vegas back on Jan. 30 in OT

This game is important for Columbus, there's no doubt about that. Thursday's game is the first of a four-game homestand that concludes next Thursday against Florida. 

Vegas is 7-2-1 in their last 10 and is atop the Pacific Division, but they've lost their last two games against LA and Pittsburgh. 

The Golden Knights are an elite team but are just 14-12-4 on the road. The Jackets are very good at home, so look for this game to be a barnburner. 

Golden Knights Stats

  • Power Play – 28.9% - 2nd in NHL
  • Penalty Kill – 76.2% - 23rd in NHL
  • Goals For – 214 – 6th – 3.34 GPG – 5th
  • Goals Against – 175 – 8th – 2.73 GPG – 9th

Series History vs. The Golden Knights

  • Columbus is 4-1-1 at home and 7-5-1 in 13 all-time meetings vs. Vegas.
  • The Jackets are 3-2-1 in the last six games.

Who To Watch For The Golden Knights

  • Jack Eichel leads the VGK with 58 assists and 78 points.
  • Tomas Hertl leads Vegas with 27 goals.
  • Goalie Aiden Hill is 23-11-4 with a .904 SV%.
  • Ilya Samsonov is 15-8-3 with a .889 SV%.

CBJ Player Notes vs. Golden Knights

  • Zach Werenski has 8 points in 11 games vs. Vegas
  • Kirill Marchenko has 4 points in 4 games.
  • Elvis Merzļikins is 3-1 with a .930 SV% vs. the Golden Knights.

Injuries

  • Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16 (61 Games)
  • Sean Monahan (upper body) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Jan. 7 (23 Games)
  • Kevin Labanc (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve as of Feb. 21 and out for the season (8 Games)
  • Cole Sillinger is day-to-day with an upper body injury (5 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 274

How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on FanDuel Sports Network. Steve Mears will be on the play-by-play. The radio broadcast will be on 97.1 The Fan, with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.

Let us know what you think below.

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