Confirmed Trade: [TOR/TBL] Darren Raddysh (signs 8 years, $8.5M AAV) for 2026 5th round pick (MOD WARNING 253)

[CantHaveTkachev]

I think tb takes a massive step back coming up

I'll believe it when I see it...they still have the best coach in the league, hopefully Hedman is healthy and they're a desirable place to play

 

[KniesMadeBradyCry]

nope
not better than TB, Florida, Montreal, Buffalo or Ottawa

Not better than Ottawa now too?? Hahaha

 

[Zarzh]

Sure, why not. The only real risk for Toronto is doing nothing.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Sign him to 8.5 over 8 and trade him to the Leafs for a 5th. Done deal

If Byram wanted 8.5 he would’ve already been signed

 

[A1LeafNation]

No idea , its a weak parity league so they could bounce back for sure , the atlantic isn't exactly a cakewalk so I'm not sure why you would be so confident after the egg you guys laid last season

Look at Berube. Misused the entire roster. Look at how players did when they were traded out. McMann Laughton Roy.

Not a guarantee but we definitely in the mix again.

 

[Nicko999]

this was always known, they don't have their next two 1st rounders

Trade Knies and you will have picks.
It will hurt but has to be done.

 

[Divine]

If teams thought last year was sustainable he would be getting 13+ million

Hopefully it ages like when Edmonton signed Hyman after a career high PPG season at 29

 

[KniesMadeBradyCry]

I'll believe it when I see it...they still have the best coach in the league, hopefully Hedman is healthy and they're a desirable place to play

Hedman is shot, and there is absolutely nobody left for them to sign to their “desirable” place to play.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Trade Knies and you will have picks.
It will hurt but has to be done.

Trading Knies would be so dumb , they need to trade the two purse boys

 

[K Fleur]

I think tb takes a massive step back coming up

This year was Hart winner, Vezina winner, and Adams winner= bounced round 1.

Next year will be Hart, Ross, Richard, Norris, Selke, Vezina, Adams winners= miss the playoffs.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Not better than Ottawa now too?? Hahaha

I mean, analytically there's an elite team with terrible goaltending
they're much dseeper than the Leafs and Sanderson is light years better than any defenceman in Toronto

 

[Miller Time]

Telling that TB didn't want to pay him 7.5-8M to keep him in town despite the huge role he played for them and the thin d group they have.

Chakya certainly isn't shy to put his stamp on the roster. Im pretty happy with what he's done so far, as a Habs fan.

 

[bleachdrinker]

Fifth round pick for Raddysh is good value considering where the Leafs are at. Whoever they drafted in the 5th was most likely not going to provide whatever Raddysh brings while they have Matthews on the team.

 

[Community]

The way the NHL cap is going Raddysh really only needs to play the way he has and put up 40 points to be worth the contracr.

I don't think people are quite grasping the cap climb.

Unless he becomes very useless and cant produce, then this will look bad, but right now cant really say.

Unreal for Raddysh getting this deal. Crazy for him to have 1 good season at 30 years old and now be ridiculously rich

The reality of the situation is that he was far and away the #1 UFA D-man. And 20+ teams would have been calling. The leafs got him for under market value, on a contract that will be too long. With the constant cap increase, this will not age as poorly as some of the haters here will have you think.

8.5m is equivelant to 7m signed in 2024 based on cap % which id absolutely nuts.

The cap has skyrocketed and there's a reason why there are very few quality UFAs reaching free agency this and last year... Very few teams are experiencing cap issues and have been able to re-sign all their guys.

Definitely still risk in this contract, but Raddysh also put up decent even strength points in 2023-24 and 2024-25. I hope for even more, but he averaged 25 before this year. That plus 20 (he put up 27 this year which was his 1st year on PP #1), still gets him to 45 which would get him to the 26th best point total from a dman last year.

So averaging his even strength numbers prior to his career year and accounting for a 30% drop off in powerplay production still gets him to 45pts. I think he needs to hit 50 at minimum for this contract to be worth it. Taking the average between his career year and the two prior years gets us to 50.

To put it in perspective, if Makar doesnt want to give Colorado a discount, he could easily be looking at a new record contract (17m+) next year. Signing for the same % as Karlsson did when he signed his contract would put Makar at 16m.


I think the real risk for Raddysh is the length of the contract, not his actual caphit.

 

[River Meadow]

Do you think Hedman getting injured and him actually getting more offensive zone starts and PP1 time had anything to do with it or are you just looking at his stats without context?

What you just said is, he was given top minutes and top opportunities with Tampa's deadliest weapons, and thus is a major factor on why his stats looked so good last year.

That's exactly what I said from the beginning.

The question will be if he can replicate this.

 

[MCR74]

Hopefully it ages like when Edmonton signed Hyman after a career high PPG season at 29

This.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Hedman is shot, and there is absolutely nobody left for them to sign to their “desirable” place to play.

great players will waive to go there and their management is smart

 

[KniesMadeBradyCry]

I mean, analytically there's an elite team with terrible goaltending
they're much dseeper than the Leafs and Sanderson is light years better than any defenceman in Toronto

Deeper than the leafs where? Sanderson is well ahead yep. That’s exactly where it ends.

 

[Nicko999]

Trading Knies would be so dumb , they need to trade the two purse boys

They need to trade them but I have a feeling they won't get as much for them than they will for Knies.

Anyway, enjoy mediocrity if you don't want to rebuild.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Not as gross a Contract as I would have liked

Still, it's a lot of terms

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Telling that TB didn't want to pay him 7.5-8M to keep him in town despite the huge role he played for them and the thin d group they have.

Chakya certainly isn't shy to put his stamp on the roster. Im pretty happy with what he's done so far, as a Habs fan.

Also weird, unless they have plans for Tuch or Andersson. $16M in space with nobody else to sign and an entire core that's in the 27-33 range.

 

[MCR74]

There is no comparison between a rookie deal and a UFA contract, thank you.

Dude, you're reaching hard with the explanations.

 

[sd1976]

I just knew what Jim Hillier was missing to run his 1-3-1 trap effectively was a soft, one-way PMD in his 30s with one good year of play. Chayka masterclass.

You literally have no idea who Raddysh is do you?

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

Raddysh was ok vs Habs in the playoffs. Moser seemed like TB's best dman, but he wore down in the series. McD & Cernak were TB's best pairing. They were pretty solid, especially in their own end. Raddysh was probably TB's 4th best dman in that series. He has a good shot.

This might work out ok for TO if Raddysh can play top 4 minutes in TO. I think the risk is if he can't do that effectively, and TO is stuck with an albatross contract. We'll see. Maybe Raddysh will improve. With players in their 30s the thing is sometimes they fall right off a cliff. So if he regresses, this could look pretty bad.

Personally I wouldn't be happy with this deal. But as others have said, it's a big risk, maybe one the Leafs need to take. Hopefully the Leafs pro scouting is really strong and they have hit on a strong dman.

Edit to add: I love the story. Undrafted guy makes good at 30. Rooting for him.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Deeper than the leafs where? Sanderson is well ahead yep. That’s exactly where it ends.

Leafs lost Marner and McMann...and are basically Matthews, Nylander Knies (who they're looking to trade), and old man Tavares

Sens are younger and deeper...there's a reason they made and you didn't