Just when you thought we were done with the defense, here comes one more – The Bald Eagle himself, Darren Raddysh. It’s been a pretty solid few years for Raddysh as he’s worked himself from a veteran on the AHL squad to top-pair defenseman.
The Basics
Name: Darren Raddysh
Position: Defenseman
Counting Stats: 82 Games, 6 Goals, 27 Assists, 19:06 TOI
Extra Stats (5v5): 52.43 CF%, 50.71 SF%, 47.76 GF%, 51.50 xGF%, 53.93 HDCF%, .894 On-ice Save Percentage, 3.58 iXG
2023-24 Contract: Final year of a 2-year contract that had an AAV of $762,000.
Contract Status: First year of a 2-year contract that is worth $1.95 million total ($975,000 AAV)
The Charts
The Review
Darren Raddysh’s journey to the top-pairing of the Tampa Bay Lightning defense is proof positive that there is no linear path to success in the NHL. During his days in junior hockey he played in parts of five seasons with the Erie Otters where he played with the likes of Connor McDavid, Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat, Mason Marchment, Warren Foegele, Anthony Cirelli, and Taylor Raddysh, Darren went undrafted before signing with the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent.
After a couple of seasons in Rockford he was traded to the Rangers organization and spent time with their AHL club, the Hartford Wolfpack. He put up decent numbers in the AHL, but never made it to the NHL. Then in the summer of 2021 the Bolts signed him to a one-year, two-way contract to help provide a little veteran leadership.
In 61 games with the Crunch he put up a respectable 7 goals and 18 assists and earned his first NHL call-up where he played for the Bolts for four games. That performance led to them re-signing him to a two-year deal that saw him start the season in Syracuse again. Something clicked and he was an absolute force offensively, recording 13 goals and 38 assists to earn an All-Star spot. He also played in 17 games for the Lightning with a goal and two assists.
It seemed that the 27-year-old had found a spot as a bottom-pair defenseman/AHL defenseman. He started last season competing with Zach Bogosian for playing time on the third pair. However, he steadily worked his way into the line-up with his solid play and offensive contributions. As Coach Cooper swapped around defensive pieces to find the best pairings, he settled on a Raddysh/Victor Hedman combo that led the way down the stretch and into the playoffs.
In 735 minutes of 5v5 time during the regular season, the duo posted positive numbers in all of the major possession stats. Of all of the Lightning’s pairings, they balanced offense and defense the best, generating plenty of goals and assists without completely selling out the defensive aspect of the game. Raddysh finished second among defensemen in points at 5v5 with 23 (4 goals, 19 assists). He wasn’t shy about shooting the puck either as he had 222 shot attempts of which, 19 created rebounds.
When he lets a shot go, it’s going to get on a goaltender in a hurry. He cracked the 100 MPH barrier once last season as he topped out at 102.40 MPH. According to NHL Edge stats, there was only one shot harder in the league last year and that was from Winnipeg’s Colin Miller who hit 102.59 in a game. Raddysh had another 27 shots that registered between 90 and 99 MPH which put him in the 95th percentile among defensemen.
There isn’t anything super flashy about his defensive game, but he manages to be in the right spot more often than not and uses his positioning to shut down plays without having to be over aggressive. In 1,383 5v5 minutes he only took 7 minor penalties. As the isolated impact shows, he kept his area pretty clean with the majority of the shots when he was on the ice coming from distance or the left side of the ice.
Along with Hedman, Raddysh likes to challenge skaters at the blueline and try to cut off the play before it has a chance to develop. There were some struggles exiting the zone cleanly, but that was a common theme for a lot of the Tampa Bay defenders last season. Raddysh isn’t likely to fly from zone to zone with the puck like his defensive partner, but he can be relied on to make a clean first pass more times than not.
It’s doubtful that anyone thought he would be playing 19 minutes a night for the Bolts back when he signed in 2021, but it just goes to show that scouting is an inexact science and it doesn’t take a top pedigree to make it in the league if a player focuses on playing to their strengths.
Even with the slight salary bump from the two-year, one-way extension he signed last summer, Raddysh might provide the best contract value among the defenders on the team. If he was a free agent, Evolving Hockey projects that he could have earned a 4-year deal with an AAV of $3.4 million. The Athletic was a little more aggressive as they assigned him a market value of $4.4 million according to their calculations. No matter which one you use as a guide, it’s a pretty good deal for a player making less than a million dollars.
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