The Toronto Maple Leafs traded a fifth-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning to acquire and sign pending UFA Darren Raddysh to an eight-year contract, by far the largest of his career.
The Toronto Maple Leafs took one of the NHL's top pending free agents off the board in a sign-and-trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Toronto acquired defenseman Darren Raddysh from the Lightning on Friday in exchange for a fifth-round pick in next week's NHL draft. Raddysh also signed an eight-year contract extension with the Maple Leafs to avoid free agency.
While the Leafs did not announce the average annual value, TSN's Chris Johnston reported it is $8.5 million.
"We are thrilled to add a defenseman of Darren's caliber to our organization," Maple Leafs GM John Chayka said in a news release. "Darren has emerged as one of the NHL's premier two-way defensemen, combining elite puck-moving ability with poise, competitiveness and strong play in all three zones. He strengthens our blueline in every situation and is exactly the type of player we want helping lead this team."
Raddysh, 30, had a career-changing breakout season with the Lightning.
He scored 22 goals and added 48 assists for 70 points in 73 games, crushing his previous career highs of six goals, 31 assists and 37 points set or tied in 2024-25.
Raddysh's average ice time under Lightning coach Jon Cooper shot up from 17:18 last year to 22:42 this season. So did his shot totals, going from 108 to 212.
Of his career-high shot total, 96 of them were between 90 and 100 mph, which led the NHL by 45 shots. The player in third place had 44 shots at that speed.
Raddysh is now signed to a $68-million deal through the 2033-34 season, when he'll turn 38 years old.
Before this contract, Raddysh had not signed for more than two years at a time or carried a cap hit of at least $1 million. His expiring two-year contract that had a $975,000 cap hit was his first one-way deal, meaning he didn't have a lower salary if he were to go to the minors.
The late bloomer has been in the NHL full-time for the past three years after being named a first-team AHL all-star in 2023.
And up until Friday, he was the highest-scoring pending UFA still without a new contract. He even had more points than Buffalo Sabres right winger Alex Tuch, considered the top forward on the free-agent market, who had 66 points in 79 games.
Raddysh's signing leaves John Carlson (60 points), Rasmus Andersson (47), Jacob Trouba (35), Brent Burns (35) and Tony DeAngelo (35) as the NHL's top-scoring pending UFA D-men.
Free agency opens on July 1.
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