Acquiring some assets and looking for a puck-moving defenseman and a steady top-six center should be the Toronto Maple Leafs MO this offseason
Jonas Siegel of The Athletic: On the problems with the idea of the Toronto Maple Leafs tearing it down and rebuilding is that they owe the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers their first-round picks. If they finish in the top 5, they keep their pick this year, but then owe their 2027 and 2028 firsts. If they finish 6th or higher, their 2026 goes to Boston and 2027 to Philadelphia (top 10 protected, else an unprotected 2028).
Auston Matthews and William Nylander have full no-movement clauses. If they agreed to a trade, they would pick their destinations, and the return would be impacted by that.
What could a change behind the bench do for this roster with a few tweaks? Pete DeBoer?
A rebuild-retool hybrid option and convince Matthews to stick around. Trade Oliver Ekman-Larsson and/or Brandon Carlo in the offseason to get younger assets and picks.
They could look to acquire in free agency or trade, a puck-moving top-four defenseman and a steady, dependable top-six center.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have big decision in pending UFA defenseman Darren Raddysh
Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times: Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman and pending UFA Darren Raddysh has already put up 60 points, and if he gets to July 1st, there will be plenty of interest. The Lightning may be concerned about overpaying him, but it’s hard to see them letting him just walk.
Finding a comp for Raddysh isn’t easy, and GM Julien BriseBois has been hesitant to give him a contract extension offer. He started the season on their third pairing and was a healthy scratch during their first 13 games of the season. Raddysh and J.J. Moser have formed their top-pairing for a good part of the season.
Raddysh is an undrafted, late bloomer, and there is no guarantee he can keep this offensive production up. The Lightning do have the salary cap room to make something work with $15.2 million in projected cap space.
Some project Raddysh close to a $7 million salary cap hit, but can’t see the Lightning going that high. They may be in the $4 to $5 million range on a long-term deal.
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