Leafs Gamble Big on Darren Raddysh
On November 8, 2025, Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh was wrapping up a four-game stretch in which he had averaged 11 minutes of ice time. To add to the non-descriptness of his season – at that point – Raddysh had totaled all of three points in his nine games of action.
What happened next to Raddysh will resonate within his family for generations, and he has Lightning captain and fellow defenseman Victor Hedman to thank for that.
Raddysh agreed to a $68,000,000 contract over the next eight seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday after being traded north by Tampa Bay in exchange for a 5th-round draft selection in next week’s National Hockey League Draft.
“I’m very thankful for everything that Tampa has given me,” Raddysh said last month following the team’s exit from the postseason. “They gave me a shot to play in the NHL.
“I can’t say anything bad about the organization.”
The Lightning leadership gave Raddysh “a shot to play in the NHL,” but Hedman gave him an opportunity to change his life, as well as his family’s.
Hedman played nearly 18 minutes against Washington on November 8 last season, but then missed the next 12 games with an injury. After playing extended minutes in Hedman’s absence through three games and not scoring a point, Raddysh began to figure out his new role, and he never relinquished it.
In a 10-game stretch, Raddysh put up 15 points, and that momentum carried him through a record-setting 70-point season (22 goals and 48 assists), as Hedman was in and out of the lineup throughout the remainder of the 2025-26 season.
“Last year,” Tampa Bay General Manager Julien BriseBois said last month in his postseason press conference, “when we were holding this exit press conference, the type of season that (Raddysh) just had was not on the radar for us.”
Hell, it wasn’t on Raddysh’s “radar” either, for that matter.
There are differing ways to view what transpired on Friday. Lightning fans can say that the team just let a 30-year-old, 70-point defenseman leave. But BriseBois’ supporters can also point to the fact that Raddysh has never had a season even close to resembling what he just did, and in truth, would have never produced like that without Hedman’s absence.
Which, by the way, speaking of Hedman, the future Hall of Fame inductee is a fantastic case study for Tampa Bay fans who are lamenting Raddysh’s departure.
Hedman is going to be 36 years old in the middle of this upcoming season, and the team still owes him $24,000,000 over three seasons. At the risk of sounding blasphemous toward a franchise icon, given the unknown status of what Hedman will deliver on the ice over the rest of his career, that salary cap hit has to make the Lightning Nation a bit queasy.
That very well may be the same feeling Maple Leaf fans have in the future, if/when:
- Raddysh reverts to some semblance of who he was as a player before the past nine months, and
- He is in the final three-plus seasons in Toronto, and the Leafs still owe him a ton of money.
BriseBois was in a tough spot on this call due to a couple of factors. One, Hedman’s career resumption, from a productivity standpoint, is an unknown at this point. And two, Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh is even older (37) than Hedman, and also has three years remaining on his deal (at $4,100,000 per season).
Tampa Bay has over $13,000,000 of projected salary cap space for the 2026-27 season, so signing Raddysh was a possibility. However, giving that much money away makes re-signing the NHL’s top player, Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov, following next season REALLY difficult.
To alleviate his dilemma, BriseBois has put his faith in others following the same path that Raddysh did when he was given an expanded opportunity.
Young Lightning defensemen such as Charle-Edouard D’Astous, Declan Carlile (if re-signed), Max Crozier, and Emil Lilleberg each need to elevate their play and production to help minimize Raddysh’s absence.
Tampa Bay needs Hedman to return to some level of his old self.
The franchise hopes McDonagh can remain a solid player, and it really would like J.J. Moser to keep ascending towards being the team’s top defenseman.
Additionally, the Lightning is anticipating veteran Erik Cernak maintaining, if not increasing, his production.
And not the least bit relevant to this situation is the fact that BriseBois does have the ability to make a trade or sign an impactful free agent to bolster the team’s defensive depth.
All of these things would create an intense level of competition among the top six or seven players seeking ice time each night, and keep the Lightning among the best defensive teams in the NHL, which it has been over the past couple of seasons.
“You’re looking for opportunities to have a pipeline of players,” BriseBois explained of building a roster, “whether it is via trades, free agents, or organically developed players, who can come in, step in, and play a role for many years to come.”
