Darren Raddysh Traded to Maple Leafs from Lightning, Latest NHL Rumors on New Contract

Coming off a career year, defenseman Darren Raddysh is going to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a sign-and-trade deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reported that Raddysh is expected to sign an eight-year deal with an average annual salary worth more than $8 million.

Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada first reported the Maple Leafs and Lightning were working on an agreement for Raddysh.

Raddysh, 30, broke out in a big way with the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2025-26 season, setting career highs in goals (22), assists (48), points (70), plus/minus (plus-21), power-play goals (10), power-play points (26), shots on goal (212) and average time on ice (22:42).

Originally an undrafted player out of the OHL's Erie Otters, Raddysh spent time with the AHL affiliates of the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers before signing with the Lightning in 2021.

After appearing in a total of 21 NHL games during his first two seasons with the organization, Raddysh finally became a full-time NHL player during the 2023-24 campaign.

Raddysh performed beyond expectations that season with six goals and 27 assists for 33 points, and he was even better in 2024-25 with six goals and 31 assists for 37 points.

He seemed to settle in as a solid option on the second or third pairing, but no one could have expected his development into a top-pairing guy this past season.

With longtime No. 1 blueliner Victor Hedman missing all but 33 games, Raddysh stepped into that role and thrived for a Lightning team that reached the playoffs with 106 points.

Tampa fell in seven games to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs, and although Raddysh had only two points in the series, he proved his worth by playing over 26 minutes per game.

Given how weak this year's free-agent class appeared to be on the surface, Raddysh emerged as one of the top players available, and it was unclear if Tampa would be able to afford to keep him.

With Raddysh leaving, the Lightning will have to lean on other returning players such as forwards Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and Hedman, while also looking to other defensemen like J.J. Moser, Ryan McDonagh, Erik Černák and Charle-Edouard D'Astous to step into bigger roles.

The Maple Leafs were projected to have $27.3 million in cap space going into the offseason. New general manager John Chayka was tasked with turning around a franchise that finished the 2025-26 season with just 78 points and missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.

Acting quickly to secure a deal with Raddysh two weeks prior to the official start of free agency suggests Chayka is only just getting started and this could be a busy summer in Toronto.