Maple Leafs Among Several Teams Pegged to Target Top Free Agent

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot they need to improve upon after a messy 2025-26 season, but none stands out more than reshaping the blueline.

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Doing that will be far easier said than done, especially given the relatively weak free agent market. However, one name that continues to stand out above the rest and remains unsigned is Darren Raddysh.

There’s already been plenty of buzz connecting Raddysh to his hometown team, and team reporter Jonas Siegel added to it by listing him as the Maple Leafs’ top free-agent target in a recent article for The Athletic.

Siegel wrote:

“Raddysh would be a complicated addition. On the one hand, he would help the Leafs in areas of need on the back end — namely, his ability to move pucks effectively and boost the power play with a big shot and QB presence. The complication is that he’s 30 and the Leafs are already flooded with 30-and-over defensemen, but if the Leafs and their new GM John Chayka can’t solve their need back there via trade, there’s a case to make for the Toronto native,”

The 30-year-old Raddysh is poised to become a UFA after playing out the second and final year of the two-year, $1.95 million extension he signed with the Lightning in 2023. He’s coming off a career-best 70-point (22 goals, 48 assists) 2025-26 season in 73 games played.

Philadelphia, San Jose, and Tampa Bay were the other teams—along with Toronto—that had Raddysh tabbed as a top target.

Those first two have plenty of cap space and a need to improve on the blue line, while the Lightning are in more of a crunch, but obviously have familiarity with the player.

Raddysh would be a solid but also risky addition for the Maple Leafs, and they’ll have to beat out several other teams in the process just to make it happen.

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