The Toronto Maple Leafs completed a sign-and-trade deal to acquire defenseman Darren Raddysh from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a fifth-round round pick, the team announced Friday.
Toronto signed the 30-year-old to an eight-year contract extension. The deal includes an average annual value of $8.5 million, reports The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.
Raddysh is coming off a breakthrough 22-goal, 48-assist campaign and was on track to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. The Toronto native also led the Lightning in average ice time at 22:41 per game.
Raddysh marks the second notable defenseman trade for the Maple Leafs under new general manager John Chayka, who acquired Emil Andrae from the Philadelphia Flyers in a four-player trade at the beginning of the week. That deal sent another defenseman, Simon Benoit, to the Flyers.
Established veterans Morgan Rielly, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brandon Carlo, Jake McCabe, and Chris Tanev make up the rest of Toronto's defense core.
In addition to recalibrating their blue line, the busy Maple Leafs hired former Los Angeles Kings head coach Jim Hiller to replace Craig Berube on Wednesday.
