The Toronto Maple Leafs made the biggest splash possible on the back end by trading for and then signing free agent defenseman Darren Raddysh to his big eight-year, $68-million contract. But, it wasn't that long ago where he was thinking that he might be hanging up the skates soon.
In a recent interview with The Toronto Sun, Raddysh went into detail about his hockey journey and how there was a point in time where he really didn't know if he had a future in the sport and it was such a foreign concept for him since that's all he has known.
“It was the first time in my life where there were doubts. Was hockey going to be my career?" Raddysh said, via The Toronto Sun.
"Where was I going? What was I doing with my life? Is this the right path? You have to ask those questions when things aren’t going your way. You have to be honest with yourself.”
Doubts creep in for every profession, but considering just how dedicated hockey players are to their craft growing up and just how all encompassing hockey was as a kid for Raddysh, most likely, it was probably a little devestating to be stuck in the minors for so long and not really have a lifeline. But, thanks to one break, Raddysh has truly become one of the best stories of the league.
Raddysh's long journey to the Maple Leafs
Raddysh is maybe the late-bloomer of the NHL right now. The 30-year-old blueliner was undrafted out of his time with the OHL's Erie Otters, and then linked up with the AHL's Rockford IceHogs in the Chicago Blackhawks organization for his first taste of pro hockey at 21 years old. That's already later than most, since he Caledon, Ont. native did go back to juniors for his overage season.
As the Maple Leafs defenseman mentioned, he was stuck down in the minors -- with Rockford or with the Hartford Wolf Pack -- from the 2017-18 season all the way until he made his NHL debut with the tampa Bay Lightning in December 2021.
It was just for four games, and in his first season with the Lightning organization, but it was a little glimpse into where he was on the depth chart. The following season, he got 17 NHL games while remaining in the Lightning organization. And then, in 2023-24, he was able to play all 82 games for Tampa in a depth role and it really only grew from there.
Notching over 30 points for the first two full seasons of NHL hockey, Raddysh was primed for a bigger opportunity and he got exactly that when Victor Hedman went down with injury and the Lightning needed someone to step up. And of course, we all know the story of Raddysh's big breakout 70-point season that earned him a massive contract with his hometown Leafs.
Maybe if Raddysh was never given that four-game stint at the end of 2021, or maybe opted to go play in Europe or something for the 2022-23 season since he was purely an AHL depth player at that point, he would be retired by now. Sometimes a career can be that fragile and a player doesn't want to keep grinding for several more years waiting for his big break.
But thank goodness Raddysh remained working away to get a bigger and bigger opportunity. Now, the Leafs have a new top-four defenseman to show for it.
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