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

[KniesMadeBradyCry]

you already told me my analysis is terrible and I dont care, maybe I shouldn't have said Clarkson but Im more so using it as an example. everyone was excited as hell with Clarkson till a couple months in and I kinda feel thats how this is going to workout.

unless we can move Raddysh when/if he's terrible and I think that will be pretty early in this 8x contract then it's worse than the Clarkson deal. atleast that we were able to dump it for Horton and then throw on LTIR, this potentially could be worse. 8 years is a LONG time and Im not sure teams will be lining up to help us unless we pay up. moving Marleau's 6.5m cost a 1st as a UFA. what's 8.5m going to cost with years left?

this is High Risk/High Reward and I dont like the risk. sorry if u dislike that

So if it goes bad. What happens? They still have a ton of cap room regardless. This is a low risk high reward move for a team in their position.

 

[sansabri]

ooooof

 

[General Fanager]

I don't think anyone has said that he is "atrocious defensively". No one will claim that he is Jacob Slavin, but come on. Everyone in Toronto knows what he is - a guy who will produce a lot of power play points and transition the puck out of the defensive zone well. He is not being paid like Cale Makar because he is not Cale Makar.

They paid him like Lane Hutson and he is certainly no Lane Hutson.

 

[Strangle]

 

[Nothingbutglass]

I don't think anyone has said that he is "atrocious defensively". No one will claim that he is Jacob Slavin, but come on. Everyone in Toronto knows what he is - a guy who will produce a lot of power play points and transition the puck out of the defensive zone well. He is not being paid like Cale Makar because he is not Cale Makar.

It was a gamble Leafs had to take regardless. We'll see how it works. Maybe he pairs with Rielly

 

[pth2]

So if it goes bad. What happens? They still have a ton of cap room regardless. This is a low risk high reward move for a team in their position.

Hang on, a cap anchor for 6 seasons can be an issue (assuming he has a couple of good seasons) so I disagree with "low risk".

 

[Artaud]

Yeah, because he will get even more power play time in Toronto. He got that power play time in Tampa largely when Hedman was out. When the latter was playing, Raddysh's power play time decreased. That won't be the case in Toronto. He will play 90 seconds of every 2 minute power play all season. That will be the reason for the increase. It's not any more complicated than that. I don't think he is going to turn into Bobby Orr in Toronto. I think he's just going to get even more opportunity than he had in Tampa, and that should naturally translate into more points.

So a quick lookup would prove you to be wrong. Raddysh played 3:45 minutes per game on the PP, good for 14th in the league, ahead of anyone on the Leafs. Statistically, he will likely get less PP time this season.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

So if it goes bad. What happens? They still have a ton of cap room regardless. This is a low risk high reward move for a team in their position.

Id be down for a 4x deal.
Im down to give that a shot. atworst if Matthews walks and we fall off a cliff its off the books in a couple of seasons. but 8x.... potential for 6x of negative value

 

[BobClarkesfrontteeth]

Would you say he’s as good as he was in Tampa?

Yes the last time he scored more goals than 42 was in 2018/2019.

 

[Some Other Flame]

That brutal lol

 

[WetcoastOrca]

So if it goes bad. What happens? They still have a ton of cap room regardless. This is a low risk high reward move for a team in their position.

Low risk?
I’m not as negative on the signing as some but this will probably be by far the highest risk signing this off season.
My main point is that I don’t see this signing as turning the Leafs into contenders but it should be a big improvement to the D and have them back in the mix fighting for a playoff spot.

 

[SENStastic]

Jesus lol

 

[Oleksiak]

Matthews and Nylander will help for sure but not like Kucherov. We dont know if Knies will even be on the team by Sept and we dont know what McKenna will be able to do. Heck we dont even know he will be their pick.

We don't even know McKenna would report. Wouldn't blame him for staying in school and avoiding that tire fire altogether.

 

[KniesMadeBradyCry]

Hang on, a cap anchor for 6 seasons can be an issue (assuming he has a couple of good seasons) so I disagree with "low risk".

But if the leafs are trading Matthews/Nylander (rebuilding) if it fails, then they’ll have more cap room than they will be able to use. The cap is climbing so rapidly that it won’t be as damaging as it would have been 5 years ago.

 

[Nothingbutglass]

Andersson will be a worse signing. Just hope the Bruins arent involved with it.

 

[nogatco rd]

I’m game, just dm me the terms so I don’t forget

LETS GO!

Done deal. The board needs more of this. Ppl like to run their mouths but won’t put their balls on the line when it comes down to it

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

I think they're going to go after 1 of Jenner/Marchment to help J.T, McKenna's playmaking ability should pump up Matthewes goal numbers. Also Raddysh gives us a point shot on the PP, something we've needed.
Andrae from Philly to help with zone exists, Danford looks NHL ready to me, plus Cowan's confidence is growing and he looks like he may make a lil noise this year.

McKenna ideally needs another season in the minor or college. He can play now but will be overwhelm physically.

Cowan is juts Nick Robertson 2.0 in the making.

Just my opinion

 

[KniesMadeBradyCry]

We don't even know McKenna would report. Wouldn't blame him for staying in school and avoiding that tire fire altogether.

Yeah I’m sure the guy that says he would be honoured to play for Toronto, won’t report . This isn’t the Canucks or something here. It’s a real franchise.

 

[KniesMadeBradyCry]

McKenna ideally needs another season in the minor or college. He can play now but will be overwhelm physically.

Cowan is juts Nick Robertson 2.0 in the making.

Just my opinion

Cowan is already better than Robertson.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

I guess time will tell, it's fine if u believe this is a good deal but don't try and look down on me because I think it's awful.

what if your wrong and I'm right and it's a MAJOR mistake of a signing?

I remember everyone thinking the David Clarkson deal was good in the beginning too

Let's go down that path. Matthews when "healthy" is clearly playing hampered, Hiller completely bombs as a coach, and the Leaf's continue to be a train wreck. As a result, Leaf's end up at the bottom of the Atlantic and give a top 10 pick to BOS (or PHI). They then decide to rebuild, move short term assets at the TDL and move AM and WN summer of 2027 and rebuild around Knies, McKenna and whatever they get back. By moving AM then, he can sign a new deal with where he's traded so he probably has slightly more value than he does right now. WN's value doesn't go down with still have something like 5 years left on his deal. As a result, the Leafs are no worse off than if they decided to rebuild this summer. If they go down that path, the Leafs are doing a tear down rebuild and they're accepting 5+ years of pain and DR's contract isn't a hindrance from the team doing anything.

The only way this is a MAJOR mistake is if the Leafs are good, but Raddysh is terrible and his contract keeps the team from doing what is necessary to get over the top. I think that's unlikely, because Raddysh was a decent 2nd pair d-man before his career year, and I don't see a situation where everything goes well like AM is back to his old self, Hiller get the team playing well, goaltending is solid, and Raddysh is the only thing that holds the team back.

Quick Summary:
Positive view: Leafs bounce back and are at least a bubble team in the murder's row Atlantic. 1st rounder DP surrendered to PHI/BOS is somewhere between 14-19 and the team has at least a punchers chance.

Negative view: 2025-26 performance continues - and the Leafs have to blow it up. Raddysh contract doesn't hurt them at all in this situation.

 

[KniesMadeBradyCry]

Low risk?
I’m not as negative on the signing as some but this will probably be by far the highest risk signing this off season.
My main point is that I don’t see this signing as turning the Leafs into contenders but it should be a big improvement to the D and have them back in the mix fighting for a playoff spot.

It can only be high risk if you have something to lose. The leafs have nothing to lose with this deal. More cap room than they’ll likely be able to spend.

 

[pth2]

But if the leafs are trading Matthews/Nylander (rebuilding) if it fails, then they’ll have more cap room than they will be able to use. The cap is climbing so rapidly that it won’t be as damaging as it would have been 5 years ago.

Having cap room is not a reason to waste it. Those last seasons will be McKenna's prime, when cap room will be at a premium to try and build a champion.

 

[Smif]

So in other words fix 90% of the Leafs game from last year.
Sounds simple.

Still have 19M to do it and most importantly we're not going to try and fit a round peg in a sqaure hole with Berube gone and his dump and chase system.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

The odds are pretty high that you're going to be wrong, if only because the guy will probably put up 35 points on the power play alone.

No defenseman in the entire league scored 35 PP points last year, including Raddysh himself who had 26 PP points, so I think it's kind of wishful thinking to think Raddysh will do that this year.

 

[KniesMadeBradyCry]

Having cap room is not a reason to waste it. Those last seasons will be McKenna's prime, when cap room will be at a premium to try and build a champion.

And in those seasons, the cap will be 50 million higher effectively making his contact what you would pay a 5/6 dman.