Overview
- The Maple Leafs completed a sign-and-trade for Darren Raddysh and signed him to an eight-year contract worth $8.5 million per season, with Toronto sending a 2026 fifth-round pick to Tampa Bay.
- Raddysh is a 30-year-old late bloomer who posted a 2025–26 breakout of 22 goals and 70 points while averaging about 22:40 of ice time and leading NHL defensemen with 10 power-play goals.
- Reports say the contract includes substantial trade protections, including full no-movement protection and a late-term 16-team no-trade list, which limits Toronto’s ability to move the cap hit quickly.
- Analysts call the move high-risk, high-reward because much of Raddysh’s production came in Tampa Bay’s system and with top forwards helping his transition play, raising doubts about repeatability in Toronto.
- The signing follows a rapid string of Chayka moves this week — a coaching hire and the Joseph Woll trade — and comes as the Marlies won the Calder Cup with Artur Akhtyamov named playoff MVP, giving Toronto internal depth behind the NHL club.