Insider Basically Guarantees Maple Leafs Signing Hometown Defenseman

Tuesday, February 10, 2026 ,
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh celebrates goal during 2026 game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs might not be making many big moves this trade deadline, but Nick Kypreos ignited some serious speculation about a move they might make this offseason.

On air recently, Kypreos said the Leafs should move Morgan Rielly out, then bring Toronto native Darren Raddysh home in free agency. 

The most interesting bit of the hypothetical was that he did not present it as a maybe. He said it was already a 'done deal'.

Darren Raddysh to the Maple Leafs is gaining steam

Raddysh is forcing the conversation with a full-on breakout season for the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

The right-shot defenceman has piled up 51 points in 48 games with 17 goals and 34 assists, sitting near the top of the league in blue line scoring, and he is doing it on a bargain deal at $1.975 million before hitting UFA status this summer. 

The big selling point is the one Toronto has been missing for years: a real bomb from the point. Raddysh has been tracked with a 100.13 MPH hardest shot this season and has lived in the elite tier for shot speed.

What a Morgan Rielly trade could open up for Toronto

The uncomfortable part is Morgan Rielly. 

Rielly is 31, the longest tenured Toronto Maple Leafs skater, an alternate captain, and he is still producing offensively with 31 points in 54 games this season after signing that eight-year, $60 million extension that carries a $7.5 million cap hit.

His peak was massive, too, including that 72-point campaign in 2018-19, so the idea of pushing him out is about the organization looking for a different identity on the back end. His defensive game has really fallen off a cliff, though, and he's drawn a lot of criticism for it this year, especially.

If Kypreos is even close on the “done deal” tone, the Leafs would be betting that Raddysh’s prime years and elite point shot can change the geometry of their power play and add a different layer to their attack. 

Prior to this season, Raddysh had combined for 12 goals, 70 points, and a +6 plus/minus rating across 155 games played the past two seasons.

It is not a magic fix, though, because Toronto still needs to defend better as a group, and Raddysh is not arriving as a one-man shutdown solution.

Photo Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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