Will Darren Raddysh re-sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning, or will he test free agency?
The Chris Johnston Show: Chris Johnston and Julian McKenzie on the Embrace The Tank episode on Tampa Bay Lightning pending UFA defenseman Darren Raddysh. Will Raddysh hit free agency, or can they re-sign him?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Johnston: “And look Darren Raddysh, what an important story. He’s almost at 60 points, right shot defense.
McKenzie: “How does Tampa keep doing this, man? It appears like yearly there’s like a defenseman that they found who’s turned himself into an on a regular basis player that nobody’s heard of, or at the very least has been very low on people’s radars. They simply, they’ve incredible pro scouting.
Johnston: “Yeah, well, they’ve perhaps the perfect GM within the league, too, in Julian BriseBois. He’s very, you recognize, I might say the rationale that Darren Raddysh probably won’t register Tampa is because they’re not prone to be the team that now pays him an insane amount for that season.
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I’m not saying 100% it won’t occur. Let’s see how things play. There’s still, there’s still time. And look, the Lightning do have a history of convincing players to sign long-term deals and perhaps taking slightly less money and making things work. And so, that’s obviously on the table too as an final result here.
But you recognize, they’re just incredibly patient and smart, they usually, he’s not afraid of a tough decision, right? Like they he got Ryan McDonough to waive at no-trade clause when he didn’t need to. Coming off a 3rd straight appearance within the Cup Final. I do know they since required him. They walked away from Steven Stamkos, a franchise legend, after exploring ways to try to maintain him.
You realize, I’m sure, though, there’s a degree that they’ll go to maintain Raddysh. But when, if the market is just too big for him, if the opportunities are too enticing, you recognize, they’ll allow them to walk, they usually’ll, they’ll work on finding the following guy.
I mean, it’s more teams must be copying what they do. Now, I realize I’m saying that, knowing that they’ve a core that it’s hard to search out. Like they got Nikita Kucherov second round and Brayden Point within the third round, and even (Andrei) Vasilevski late first rounder. After which they’ve kept those players their entire careers. They usually’ve been the backbone, together with Victor Hedman and Stamkos and a few others that helped, you recognize, fuel all those cup runs.
So, you recognize, it’s, it’s easier to, I suppose, fill across the margins when you’ve the major when you’ve the major squares occupied by the proper people. But, yeah, I mean, tip of the Cap to the Lightning. I, I’ve got immense respect for them, just the best way they’ve, they’ve managed to remain within the fight.
And, look, they’ve been a they’re feeling it like, what’s interesting to me is sub plot to this playoffs, Colorado’s feeling it because they haven’t won a series, or they’ve won one round, I feel since they were they won the cup, right? Well, Tampa went to that cup and lost to the Avalanche. They haven’t had a cup run since then, like they haven’t had an extended run since then.
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So, you recognize, while it appears like they’re at all times in the combo, because they’ve been two really good teams, that they each type of had playoff success, elude them lately here, and so I got to think the urgency levels are even higher.
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