New Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Darren Raddysh says he is stoked to return to play professional hockey in his hometown.
Raddysh signed an eight-year, $68 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning and was immediately traded to the Maple Leafs last week in exchange for a fifth-round pick as part of a blockbuster sign-and-trade deal.
The 30-year-old Raddysh, who grew up in Toronto, is understandably excited to return to his hometown to play for his favorite hockey team growing up.
Darren Raddysh Excited to Play in Toronto
Speaking to Maple Leafs reporters on Monday in a Zoom call, Raddysh expressed how happy he is to return home to play for the Maple Leafs.
“Playing in Toronto is something you always dreamed of as a kid, especially playing in the GTHL. You always watch the Leaf games on Saturday nights. Everyone pretty much always wants to come back here,” Raddysh said.
As much as Raddysh is excited to come home to play for Toronto, the Maple Leafs are equally as excited to bring him back home, as he will be counted on for the next eight seasons to be one of the team’s top defensemen as they look to turn things around with new management and a new head coach.
Darren Raddysh is a Late-Blooming Star
This past year, Raddysh had a true breakout season as he scored 22 goals and had 70 points for the Lightning. In his first four NHL seasons, he showed some potential, but this year, with Lightning captain Victor Hedman missing much of the season due to injuries and mental health concerns, Raddysh became the team’s No. 1 defenseman, and he ran with the role.
After such an incredible year, Raddysh was the top free-agent defenseman on this year’s market. But instead of waiting until July 1 to sign with a team, the Maple Leafs and Raddysh agreed to bring him into the fold 10 days early, so he doesn’t have to test the free-agent market and the Maple Leafs get their man without having to worry about another team getting him instead.
According to Raddysh, agreeing to the sign-and-trade deal with the Maple Leafs was a “no-brainer.”
Toronto is no doubt happy to have him, as he will make the team’s defense way better. The Maple Leafs needed to badly upgrade their defensive unit after a terrible season last year, where they missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
After getting Raddysh, look for the Maple Leafs to now move off 13-year veteran Morgan Rielly, whose time in Toronto appears to have finally run out. While Rielly has always been a solid player for the Maple Leafs, it’s just time that both sides end up in a divorce. With Rielly presumably being traded, that will open up more minutes for Raddysh, who will become the team’s power-play QB.
This is a risky move for Toronto, since Raddysh has only had one good season. But the team believes in him, and he’s happy to come out, so there is a lot of optimism here, too.
Darren Raddysh Stoked to Come Home