The Toronto Maple Leafs are now being linked to acquiring Taylor Raddysh, the brother of new Maple Leafs defenseman Darren Raddysh.
The Maple Leafs made a blockbuster sign-and-trade transaction on Friday, sending a fifth-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Darren Raddysh, who was signed to an eight-year, $68 million deal ($8.5 million AAV) as part of the transaction.
Well, it turns out that Darren Raddysh might not be the only Raddysh that the Maple Leafs are acquiring this offseason, as the team is now being connected to his brother, Taylor Raddysh.
Taylor Raddysh Connected to Maple Leafs
Not long after the Darren Raddysh sign-and-trade was made official by the Maple Leafs, longtime hockey reporter Steve Simmons posted on social media that he believes the team may also look to acquire Taylor Raddysh, a former Lightning player himself who is currently skating for the New York Rangers.
“I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the Leafs deal for Darren Raddysh’s brother Taylor, a bottom half roster player available by the New York Rangers,” Simmons wrote on X.
Taylor Raddysh currently has one year left on his current contract with the Rangers, which pays him $1.5 million next season. As a depth forward, he likely wouldn’t cost too much in a trade if the Maple Leafs wanted to get him. He played in 68 games for the Rangers this past season, scoring 9 goals and 19 points.
Speculatively speaking, the Maple Leafs could potentially send a lower draft pick to New York to acquire Taylor Raddysh and bring him to Toronto. The Maple Leafs have the 85th overall pick in next week’s NHL Entry Draft, which they acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers as part of the Joseph Woll trade, plus the 114th overall pick that they got from the Seattle Kraken in the Bobby McMann trade. The Maple Leafs could potentially send either of those picks to the Rangers for Taylor Raddysh.
Maple Leafs Changing Things Up Under John Chayka
Since John Chayka took over in May as the Maple Leafs’ general manager, he has made several major changes to the team.
The biggest one was firing former head coach Craig Berube and replacing him with Jim Hiller. The Maple Leafs love what Hiller brings to the table, and Chayka is convinced he is the right person to lead the team now and into the future.
The Maple Leafs also traded Woll, as mentioned above, to the Flyers, along with Simon Benoit, bringing in Samuel Ersson and Emil Andrae in the trade. That move allows the Maple Leafs to go with Dennis Hildeby and Anthony Stolarz as their goalie tandem for next season.
Of course, the biggest swing by Chayka so far is giving Darren Raddysh the huge eight-year, $68 million contract to become the team’s new No. 1 defenseman. After scoring 22 goals and 70 points for Tampa Bay last year, the Maple Leafs are hoping that he can become the team’s new power-play quarterback.
Next up, perhaps his brother, Taylor Raddysh, could join the team in a trade from New York.
Maple Leafs Linked to Brother of Darren Raddysh