Just three seasons after leaving the Colorado youth hockey ranks, Brandon Carlo found himself in the NHL.

Now four years later, the 24-year-old Colorado Springs native will stay with the Boston Bruins for six more seasons after recently signing a six-year extension with the club.

Carlo met with reporters over Zoom after signing the contract.

“This is a huge day for me and my family,” said Carlo. “I’m obviously very excited, and I just wanted to get the thank yous going through. The Jacobs family, I’m very thankful for this opportunity. Don Sweeney, Cam Neely, everybody in the Bruins organization, especially my teammates – couldn’t have done it without them.

“Especially, for my family, this is very huge, and I just want to thank my mom, my dad, my fiancé, and just all of them for supporting me along the way. The coaching staff and everybody has done a great job with me over the past couple of years to help me develop and get to this point.”

Taken in the second round (37th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft by Boston, Carlo’s new deal takes him through the end of the 2026-27 season.

Over the past five seasons, Carlo has played in 324 games on the back end for the Bruins, collecting 55 points (15 goals, 40 assists) with a plus-58 plus-minus rating.

Carlo’s 2020-21 season came to an abrupt end after suffering an injury in Game 3 of the Bruins second-round Stanley Cup Playoff series with the New York Islanders, but he said on the call that he’s ready for the 2021-22 season.

“I’m feeling over the moon today, but in general, before all this contract stuff, I’ve been feeling very good,” said Carlo. “I’ve been feeling great, completely back to normal, 100 percent for, I would say, well over a month and a half now. My recovery was pretty quick within that guideline, and I felt very good. Everything is good there (and) training has been going well. That hasn’t thrown me off in any way. I’m just continuing to excel in that and I’m feeling really good.”

Last season, just prior to the Bruins’ outdoor game in Lake Tahoe against the Philadelphia Flyers, Carlo was given an ‘A’ on his jersey as an alternate captain. It’s that aspect of his game that Carlo wants to keep improving upon.

“There’s a lot more room for that going forward,” said Carlo. “I think this contract kind of reflects on that. I’m excited for that opportunity. It’s always something that I feel like I kind of had a little bit within me, is the leadership component. I just want to continue to grow in that regard. The responsibility comes with this deal, being with the terms and whatnot, to step up in that way, and I fully plan to.

“Huge compliment by the organization and by Don and everybody to recognize that within me, and that definitely made me feel good.”

And even as the Colorado Hockey Club (now Colorado Rampage) and Colorado Thunderbirds is emerging as a high-end defenseman in the NHL, he reflected back to his NHL debut in 2016 and how he hoped he would at least play 5-10 games.

“Now I’m starting to develop the confidence where I feel like I can really grow into a lethal player in this league and that’s exciting for me, for sure,” said Carlo. “As I look back on it, it’s fun to think about where I was and where I am now.

“And I feel very good about where I am now.”

Photo/Steve Babineau/Boston Bruins

— Matt Mackinder

(July 21, 2021)