{"id":654211,"date":"2026-05-20T10:31:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/654211\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T10:31:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:31:17","slug":"top-ufa-d-man-darren-raddysh-linked-to-4-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/654211\/","title":{"rendered":"Top UFA D-Man Darren Raddysh Linked to 4 Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tampa<\/a>Coming into the 2025-26 season, not many pundits around hockey would have pegged 30-year-old Darren Raddysh as the top unrestricted free agent defenseman this summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But here we are. Just two years removed from his first full NHL season, Raddysh broke out in a big way with the Tampa Bay Lightning this year. He slid into the largely absent Victor Hedman spot as the No. 1 blueliner for the Bolts, acting as the quarterback on the power play, and more than doubling his previous career high with 70 points in 73 games. He registered 22 goals after recording just six in each of his previous two seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, he’s a pending UFA, and with the thin market this summer, he’ll be in for a massive raise from the $975,000 salary he earned the past two years. AFP Analytics has projected Raddysh to be able to land a six-year deal with an $8 million AAV.<\/p>\n

But which team will give it to him?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Athletic<\/a> came up with a list of four teams that should have Raddysh as their top target in free agency this summer:<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Flyers<\/p>\n

“The Flyers\u2019 power play has been awful for five years running, including a last-place finish during this past regular season,” writes Kevin Kurz. “Raddysh had 10 goals and 26 points on the power play this season, and would give the Flyers the big, booming shot that Rick Tocchet is seeking.”<\/p>\n

San Jose Sharks<\/p>\n

“There is the risk of Raddysh\u2019s blow-up 2025-26 season being an anomaly, but he\u2019s got a cannon of a shot and showed he can handle top-pairing minutes,” writes Eric Stephens. “He\u2019d have power-play weapons in San Jose.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yup, Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith would have a party on the power play with Raddysh at the point.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n

Certainly, the Bolts would love to have him back. But can they afford him?\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Raddysh is a prime overpay candidate, considering his offensive breakout this year and the overall state of free agency,” says Shayna Goldman. “But if any team can come to a reasonable deal, maybe it\u2019s the one he clicked so well with this year.”<\/p>\n

Toronto Maple Leafs<\/p>\n

In a vacuum, Raddysh is just what Toronto is looking for on the blueline. And he’s a local kid. But as Jonas Siegel writes, it’s more complicated than that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“On the one hand, he would help the Leafs in areas of need on the back end \u2014 namely, his ability to move pucks effectively and boost the power play with a big shot and QB presence. The complication is that he\u2019s 30 and the Leafs are already flooded with 30-and-over defensemen, but if the Leafs and their new GM John Chayka can\u2019t solve their need back there via trade, there\u2019s a case to make for the Toronto native.”<\/p>\n

Wherever he winds up, Raddysh will have himself a life-altering new contract.<\/p>\n

Photo: \u00a9 David Kirouac-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coming into the 2025-26 season, not many pundits around hockey would have pegged 30-year-old Darren Raddysh as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-654211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}