The Boston Bruins will have to wait a little longer to cash in on their trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, as the lottery balls didn't bounce their way on Tuesday night. The Maple Leafs won the NHL Draft Lottery, moving up from the fifth spot to claim the first overall pick in June's draft. This means the first-round pick the Bruins acquired in the Brandon Carlo trade—originally slated for this year—is now protected and will roll over to 2027 or 2028.

Let's break down what happened. At the 2025 trade deadline, the Bruins sent defenseman Brandon Carlo to Toronto in exchange for prospect Fraser Minten, a first-round pick, and a fourth-round pick. The fourth-rounder was later flipped for Vashek Blanar, but the first-rounder came with a catch: it was top-five protected. The Maple Leafs finished the season with the fifth-best lottery odds (8.5%), and when they won the lottery, that protection kicked in.

Before Tuesday, there was a 58.2% chance the Bruins would get the pick this year. Instead, the hockey gods had other plans. The Bruins still own their own first-round pick in 2026, so there's no immediate draft-day panic in Boston.

Here's where it gets interesting for the long game. Next season, if the Maple Leafs' pick falls outside the top 10, it will go to the Philadelphia Flyers to complete the Scott Laughton trade. In that case, the Bruins would receive an unprotected first-round pick from Toronto in 2028—and they'd already have two picks that year (their own and Florida's from the Brad Marchand trade). If the Leafs' pick lands inside the top 10 next year, Toronto gets to choose which team gets their pick: the Bruins or the Flyers. The team that doesn't get the pick will receive an unprotected first-rounder in 2028.

For Bruins fans, it's a waiting game that adds another layer of drama to the already heated rivalry with Toronto. The first round of the NHL draft is set for Friday, June 26, at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY—but Boston will have to watch from the sidelines for now. In the meantime, keep your eyes on the 2028 draft board; it might just be a blockbuster year for the Bruins.