Fraser Minten: Boston's Sweetheart
If you don't know him already, here's why you should and will
A sweet Canadian boy walked into a costume shop in Boston in search of something to wear for the Boston Bruins Halloween party. Consulting with the shopkeeper, he asked to see any ridiculous rentals they had. The boy tried on an absurdly large monster costume he could hardly see out of.
Then, he called a teammate, Mason Lohrei, to consult. He showed Mason a carrot costume, and Mason said, “We can do better than that.”
After considering a few other options and confessing that he always preferred the candy to the costumes at Halloween, our Canadian boy donned an open-faced lobster costume, fitting for the Boston scene. He asked the camera if they could tell that it was him, jokingly, although the blush on his cheeks matched the costume well.
This sweet Canadian boy is Fraser Minten. He had a long journey to get to this point in Boston, but it molded him into the wonderful person and player he is today. Someone that the Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager, Kyle Dubas, said was the kind of player you just had to draft.
Ever since he was young, Fraser has adored hockey. He tells stories of playing around his family’s condo complex in downtown Vancouver with his younger brother, Bryce, until they were told they had to stop.
At that point, his parents found a used street hockey goal on Craigslist for Fraser and Bryce to use. His mom recalls young Fraser dragging the goal down to the street hockey rink under the nearby overpass.
For his seventh birthday, when his parents asked what he wanted his birthday party to be, Fraser, a July baby, requested a street hockey party so his friends would be forced to play with him. No one else wanted to spend as much time in skates as he did.
Through middle school, Fraser took piano lessons and music theory at The Royal Conservatory of Music. He passed Level 8 theory with First Class Honors with Distinction and Level 8 Piano with Honors. He claims to have hated it, but many Canadian Twitter users commented on how difficult the tests are to even get to those levels.
Every other summer, Fraser would travel around Canada with his grandparents. According to his parents, they were huge in encouraging Fraser’s piano playing and his overall curiosity about the world. His grandparents got him started on reading, a hobby he partakes in voraciously. Fraser’s mom said he would beg them to go to the library and the next day beg them to go again so he could return the book he checked out, finishing it in just one day.
His love of reading led him to develop a love of writing. Fraser keeps extensive journals and detailed lists of goals. His parents say he wouldn’t let them see the goals and plans for a long time, but occasionally, they got a glimpse into how detailed the goals he was setting for himself were.
Minten was not on the hockey radar in Vancouver. His parents were hesitant to let him join the hockey fray with such intense politics. They had never made a strong effort to work him into that world, wanting to leave Fraser open to other hobbies and opportunities in life.
When Fraser started high school, he joined the West Vancouver Hockey Academy, now the North Shore Warriors. In his sophomore year with West Van, he played with superstar freshman Connor Bedard. They don’t classify their high school years like that in hockey, but it’s far easier to position it like that.
Fraser and Connor played together for two years at West Van. In that time, Fraser worked hard to develop his game in ways that pushed both him and Connor. Their coach, Steve Marr, said Fraser fought to try to catch Connor’s shooting percentage in practice. Minten finished only 5 percent behind Bedard, an impressive feat considering Connor’s skill.
When COVID hit in 2020, Fraser went back to dragging that same Craigslist net down to BC Place, an arena across from where the Canucks play, with his synthetic ice squares to shoot against a wall. He said he would choose a random wall until a security guard told him he couldn’t hit against that wall. Then, he would just find another one.
After COVID, Fraser started his major junior career with the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL. Major junior hockey is usually played when players are 16 to 20 years old. Players can be granted exceptional status, allowing them to begin major junior play at 15. Only nine players have received this ever, and Fraser was not one of them. (But Connor was.)
In an environment where many teenage boys would be tempted to shrink themselves and hide their more obscure hobbies, Fraser did not submit to that pressure. Every one of his teammates knows about his passion for music and reading.
While playing for the Blazers, Fraser took on a leadership role, giving advice on the bench and contacting incoming players to offer support in their journey. An excellent season in Kamloops put him on the NHL draft radar. Because of the WHL playoffs, Fraser missed the NHL combine, but the Maple Leafs brought him out to Toronto to interview and test him. He passed with flying colors.
Minten’s family and team remember that he did all of the draft steps on his own. His dad said, “He had finished everything before we had the full scope of what he was doing. He knows we don’t know enough about hockey to help him.”
In 2022, Fraser was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round with the 38th pick. Following the draft, he returned to the Kamloops Blazers to be an alternate captain.
During the NHL preseason of 2023, Fraser had played in all but one of the opening games, and that last one was quickly approaching. He hadn’t heard whether he was going to be chosen to stick around for the beginning of the regular season. Fraser’s parents called and asked if they should be preparing to come to the first game of the season.
His mom recounted, “I said to Fraser, ‘Your Dad and I have jobs, should we be making plans to see you in Toronto on Wednesday? Can you give us a feel of things?’ And he got very irritated at the question. He said, ‘Mom, they’re probably sending me home on Sunday. I’m playing another game and I’m happy I’m playing another game. Don’t bother me with that. I’m focused on the next game.’”
They didn’t send him home. And his parents made it to his first NHL game.
Opening the 2023 season, Fraser played four games with the Leafs before being sent back to his WHL team. He played seven games with the Blazers when they traded him to the Saskatoon Blades. In his season with Saskatoon, Fraser was just over one point per game, generally considered an excellent feat.
In December 2023, Fraser was selected to Canada’s World Junior Championships team as the captain. Macklin Celebrini was also on that WJC team. Canada placed fifth. Team USA won the tournament with Will Smith and his Boston College lineys leading their team.
The next season, Fraser returned to the Maple Leafs for the beginning of the season. Eventually, he was sent down to the AHL (the minor league team), the Toronto Marlies.
On March 7, 2025, Fraser was traded along with two draft picks to the Boston Bruins for defenseman Brandon Carlo. He spent a few games in Boston before being sent down to their AHL team, the Providence Bruins.
Fraser made massive steps in Providence, both in hockey and in leadership. The Bruins loved what they were seeing from him in preseason camp and made the decision to keep him in Boston. Fraser now has 26 points through 54 games, being active on both the power play and the penalty kill.
In September, Fraser visited the Paul Revere house for the first time. He told the tour guide that he didn’t know who Paul Revere was beyond the Noah Kahan song, but he really enjoyed the tour.
Now we’re back to the time this young man found a Halloween costume in Boston.
Mason Lohrei, whom Fraser called at the costume shop, is one of the other young players in Boston. Over the Christmas break, Fraser spent time with the Lohrei family. They are good friends.
On January 3rd, Fraser returned to Vancouver for the first time in his career. The Bruins won 3-2 in OT with Fraser scoring 2 goals, one being the game-winning goal.
In Canada, the popular post-game broadcast for hockey games is called Hockey Night in Canada. They chat with the player of the game, and they receive a special Hockey Night towel. After the interview, when Fraser went out to meet his family, he handed the towel to his mom and said, “Will you take this home?” His childhood bedroom is a shrine to every hockey accomplishment in his life and this was a necessary addition.
A few weeks later, the Bruins held Hockey is For Everyone night. Along with four other teammates, Fraser had pride tape on his stick during warmups.
Fraser’s mom, Chantal, said they did everything they could to instill acting “with the community in mind,” and remembering that there is so much else outside of the sport.
All in all, Fraser Minten is one of the sweetest, most interesting players in the NHL. His hockey is on the rise. If you didn’t know about him before, now you do, and you’ll agree, he is Boston’s sweetheart.
