The Toronto Maple Leafs are keeping busy. It seems like general manager John Chayka is going to make sure he can sign the top free agent defenseman available before any other team can.
According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, who reported this at 1:46 a.m., the Maple Leafs are working on a sign-and-trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Darren Raddysh. Raddysh is considered the top free agent defenseman available after an outstanding breakout year for Tampa.
Late-night news:
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 19, 2026
Don’t expect this to be finalized until the morning, but there is word the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning are working on a sign-and-trade for Darren Raddysh.
The 30-year-old defenceman had a breakthrough 2025-26 with 22 goals and 70 points
The 30-year-old defenseman has only been an NHL regular for three seasons, but he fully blossomed into a dynamic offensive presence on the blue line this past year. With 22 goals and 70 points from the back end, Raddysh finished the season seventh in scoring from defenseman and everyone ahead of him either regularly finishes at the top of Norris Trophy voting, or is Lane Hutson.
Raddysh averaged 22:42 time-on-ice for the Lightning as he took the quarterback spot on their top power-play unit this past season. On the man advantage, he scored 10 goals and earned 16 of his 48 assists.
Why are the Leafs doing a sign-and-trade?
The main reason for any team to do a sign-and-trade deal is so that they can tack on an extra year to the upcoming contract. If an NHL team re-signs their players, they can sign them for a maximum of eight years, while if they sign an unrestricted free agent, the maximum is seven. (This is going down to seven and six years when the new CBA comes into effect in September.)
So, it certainly seems like the Leafs are going to look to be signing Raddysh, a 30-year-old defenseman that just broke out, to an eight-year contract. And signing any player heading into their 30s for a maximum-term contract is not the best thing to do. At best, all we can hope for is that the length of the contract makes the cap hit lower.
There were early reports of Raddysh potentially coming in with a $9-million AAV on a seven-year deal. So if that goes up to eight years, are we looking at something like an $8.5-million AAV?
We'll just have to wait and see until this all actually comes to fruition.
The NHL offseason has really begun.
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