Confirmed with Link: Leafs acquire Darren Raddysh for 2026 5th | Raddysh signs, 8 years, $8.5M AAV

[BrannigansLaw]

Hell yes if it’s a late round pick.

Get it done Johnny. Just don’t pay too much in cap plz

 

[Anthrax442]

Thank God. I was kind of worried they were going to waste a 3rd or something.

Wait though, its Dreger.

 

[ToneDog]

Very high probability he’s a one year wonder

You might be right, but let's enjoy what could be until he proves he is not.

If he is the real deal, after many on this board saying you do not need a bomb from the point, we landed a guy who has a bomb from the point. No more cheating against our PP QB.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Looks like Johnston has confirmed it 30 mins ago.

He is officially a Leaf!

Part is horrified he’ll age like milk and we’ll have another Clarkson on our hands but we needed the help. With no 1st rounders in the next two years a rebuild would have been pointless so you might as well go for it.

At least this means we’re prob gonna f*** Boston’s pick up even more in ‘28 all things considered.

 

[All Mod Cons]

This one has disaster written all over it

 

[kb]

Jeebus, people act like it's their own money.

 

[Dale Gribble]

We're going to overpay (by a long shot) a 30 year old late blooming defenseman aren't we ?

 

[Future]

As long as the trade comp isn’t ridiculous, I don’t know how anyone can hate this move. You’re getting a top pair RHD that is 30 years old (not 35) without giving up premium assets. Obviously comes with some risk considering it was his career/breakout year last season, but if he was a more established player putting up similar metrics he wouldn’t even make it anywhere close to free agency, and if he did he’d command $11-12m+

 

[Kazparov]

I love it. Get aggressive. Don't sit your ass like Tre and watch the wheels fall off.

Chayka has got some BALLS

 

[Vince Young]

As long as the trade comp isn’t ridiculous, I don’t know how anyone can hate this move. You’re getting a top pair RHD that is 30 years old (not 35) without giving up premium assets. Obviously comes with some risk considering it was his career/breakout year last season, but if he was a more established player putting up similar metrics he wouldn’t even make it anywhere close to free agency, and if he did he’d command $11-12m+

If he gets 50+ points for the next 5 years and is good defensively, it was well worth it imo. Especially with the rising cap

 

[TheBeastCoast]

People are still having a hard time adjusting to the new world where the cap has gone I see.

 

[Albz]

I cant be on the main boarders. The amount of hate for leafs for absolutely no reason is crazy lol....

 

[ToneDog]

People are still having a hard time adjusting to the new world where the cap has gone I see.

Most likely, Raddsh will get Rielly's cap hit and a bit more once they move Rielly. Stay tuned. It should not be much longer.

 

[Brobust]

Looked a bit slow to me. But I'll trust Toronto's scouting.

 

[cyris]

Jeebus, people act like it's their own money.

It’s not our money obviously. But our team.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to worry that a guy who had a massive outlier season at 30 could be a one year wonder.
I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to be excited that your team is getting potentially the best UFA Dman on the market.

Personally I don’t overly love this or hate it so I’m mostly in wait and see mode.

 

[CapspaceKiller]

People are still having a hard time adjusting to the new world where the cap has gone I see.

The NBA went through an explosion of their cap a few years ago. Masai got crucified for offering Demarre Carroll 15m a season when in the previous era he would have gotten 8-8.5m. Within 3 years people didn't even bat an eyelash at it, because of all the other rising salaries. This is what is going to happen.

8m a season is going to be the new 5m, 5m is going to be the new 2.5m and so on so forth.

 

[Zybalto]

Looks like Johnston has confirmed it 30 mins ago.

He is officially a Leaf!

Part is horrified he’ll age like milk and we’ll have another Clarkson on our hands but we needed the help. With no 1st rounders in the next two years a rebuild would have been pointless so you might as well go for it.

At least this means we’re prob gonna f*** Boston’s pick up even more in ‘28 all things considered.

Clarkson was a middle 6 winger with poor underlying metrics we were hoping could keep his scoring touch and didnt so made him kinda useless.

Raddysh underlying numbers were very good and he put up incredible production but im just hoping it wasnt just all part of how he jelled with the team and his partner Moser.

Even if he takes a slight step back overall from last season, hes still worth it as a solid top 4 RHD and an actual PP bomb for the first time in forever.

I dont expect the end of the contract to kind though.

 

[613Leafer]

That's pretty steep given age, limited track record, etc, even taking into account the rising cap.

Hopefully our scouts, analytics people, etc are very very confident he will age well and is at least a legit #2 defenceman.

 

[ToneDog]

This one has disaster written all over it

Possibly not only f***s up the retool but also the rebuild. Until it happens, enjoy.

 

[Future]

He's 30 years old. He doubled his offensive output. The odds of that suddenly being who he is now are low.

He had great underlying metrics for a couple of years before this breakout season. Is it surprising production followed him being given the opportunity on PP1?

He will play on the powerplay here because he and his point shot has been a dire need for a decade here. Besides, if he’s making $8m-ish, he’s not expected to put up point-per-game seasons. Literally if he puts up 45-50+ points regularly and plays a strong 20+ minutes a night, that is still a steal of a deal with the cap going up.

Shocking how people can be upset over this.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Personally I don’t like it

30 year old late bloomer and signing him to a big deal off of a big career high season?

Highly risky

That said changes to the blue line were needed and I’m excited to see it all unfold. I’ll always cheer on a Toronto boy. Also I realize the cap is going up which helps

 

[Anthrax442]

People are still having a hard time adjusting to the new world where the cap has gone I see.

8 mil now is 5 mil in covid era

 

[cyris]

That's pretty steep given age, limited track record, etc, even taking into account the rising cap.

Hopefully our scouts, analytics people, etc are very very confident he will age well and is at least a legit #2 defenceman.

I think he could have gotten significantly more on the open market. Which still doesn’t mean this ultimately will be a good deal.

 

[Fogelhund]

At the end of the day, we’ve taken the best D that was going to be a UFA off the market. That doesn’t come for free. Let me repeat, the best available UFA D. There was no way for us to find a better D in Free Agency, cost and risk be damned.

 

[The Shrike]

People are still having a hard time adjusting to the new world where the cap has gone I see.

I think it won't hit most people until July 1st.