The Toronto Maple Leafs made the first big splash of the summer, acquiring top defenseman Darren Raddysh in a sign-and-trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday morning. And now it seems like we know exactly who general manager John Chayka wants to target for defensive help.
Raddysh isn't the only defenseman that Chayka has acquired for the Leafs so far this offseason. In the Joseph Woll trade with the Philadelphia Flyers, he also got young blueliner Emil Andrae in the deal. And in a matter of days, the Leafs brought in two defensemen that can do something we haven't seen in a while in Toronto.
It is starting to become obvious what exactly Chayka wants to target on the back end this summer. Both Raddysh and Andrae are very capable at doing one specific thing very well: Exiting the zone cleanly.
The first two guys John Chayka bring to the team show that they correctly identified the need for defenders who can get out of their own zone. Something Toronto struggled with a lot.#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/cSHmh2NOoj
— James (@SportsDataQuest) June 19, 2026
According to tracking data from HockeyStats.com, both Raddysh and Andrae had an exit success rate, in the upper echelon of the NHL, at or above 87%. Small things like being in the 98th percentile of pass exits -- being two blueliners who can easily send the puck up to their forwards -- should mean so much for the Leafs.
Toronto just had none of this going on for them. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was most likely the best Leafs blueliner capable of doing this regularly, but he was playing in a sheltered role and didn't have to do it that often. Now, the Leafs can manage to actually send the puck up the ice for their elite forwards to have a better chance at scoring; instead of them needing to go deeper in their own zone to dig out the puck for themselves and work slowly up the ice from there.
The entire transition game for the Leafs should be smoother and it doesn't seem like Chayka is done adjusting his blue line.
Morgan Rielly is most likely going to be traded in the coming weeks and if there is a focus on puckmovers, the likes of Brandon Carlo, Jake McCabe, and Chris Tanev all being on the same roster is fairly reduntant and doesn't contribute to that at all. It wouldn't be shocking if someone like Carlo is eventually traded as well and the Leafs go out and try to get another top-four defenseman in addition to Raddysh.
It is going to be an eventful few weeks for Leafs Nation. There is no doubt about that.
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