Bruins weigh signing Darren Raddysh for defense

Bruins signing – With the Bruins searching for help on defense—and particularly a right-side impact presence—Darren Raddysh’s breakout 2024 season with Tampa Bay has put him in the mix. But his age, limited prior NHL sample, and the projected cost could turn a needed upgrade i

Boston’s offseason has a familiar focus: defense. Not just the defensive zone, not just structure, but the part of the roster that too often failed to do the job two ways—slowing opponents down and creating offense at the other end.

The Bruins’ management group, led by Sweeney, has multiple paths it can pursue to reshape that group. The straightforward one is free agency, where the options will open on July 1. The easiest version of that plan is to spend for an impact defenseman instead of trying to solve everything through trades.

Rasmus Andersson—described as an established top-four minutes-muncher—could be one of the top options on the market. But Darren Raddysh is the name that comes with a different promise: more upside for a Bruins team that needs a game-changer and doesn’t have the luxury of just making incremental upgrades.

Boston’s interest, though, comes with an immediate counterweight: the risk of paying for a 30-year-old who has a smaller body of work than the market typically prefers.

Raddysh’s case starts with a season that arrived at exactly the right time for a player seeking a bigger role and a bigger contract. The 30-year-old finished this past season with Tampa Bay, scoring 22 goals and 70 points. That production ranked third among NHL defensemen in goals and seventh in points.

He also delivered a meaningful portion of that production on the power play, scoring 10 goals and 26 total points with the man advantage on a unit orchestrated by Nikita Kucherov.

But the Bruins wouldn’t just be buying offense. Raddysh averaged 22:42 of ice time per game for a Tampa Bay team that played without Victor Hedman for a significant stretch of the year, giving him responsibilities that went beyond a niche role.

When the focus shifts to his five-on-five impact, the numbers are even more striking. Over 1,228 minutes of 5-on-5 reps, Tampa Bay outscored opponents 71-49, and the Bolts held an expected goals advantage of 67.4 to 50.65 across that same stretch.

In other words, the argument for a Bruins signing is not only that Raddysh produced. It’s that he helped tilt games in the right direction during a large sample of five-on-five play.

There’s also a clear fit for a Boston roster that has struggled to get enough goal output from its defense. The Bruins ranked 18th in the NHL this past year in goals by defensemen, with 36.

Bringing Raddysh in would address multiple needs at once. The most obvious is stabilizing a second pairing. The other is adding a right-side option with a track record—however recently established—for hammering pucks from the blue line and generating offense.

If Boston chooses to put him in a larger special-teams role. there’s another potential domino effect: handing Raddysh the keys on the power play could lighten the load on Charlie McAvoy. The expectation would be that McAvoy. already a central piece. could be freed up elsewhere to serve as a more physical rover—similar to the role described for him on Team USA.

Still, the Bruins’ biggest question is whether this past season was the start of a trend or a peak that won’t repeat.

That concern cuts to age and sample size. The price is likely to be steep, too. AFP Analytics projects Raddysh to sign a six-year contract this offseason worth a projected $8.037 million annual cap hit. It could be even higher in total payout once the full betting war develops across the league. especially given the market’s appetite for players who can change the look of a defense.

Boston does have the space to make the move. The Bruins are operating with a projected $15.4 million in cap space.

But the organization’s recent experience makes the math feel riskier than it would for a team with more breathing room. After already feeling the sting of the Elias Lindholm contract, Boston could find itself boxed in if Raddysh doesn’t become a true impact defenseman.

The other issue is that, beyond 2023-24, Raddysh hasn’t built a long, proven record at the NHL level.

Before the breakout, the 2023-24 season where he carved out a third-pairing role in Tampa Bay, Raddysh played only 21 total NHL games across two seasons from 2021-23. Before this past season, his previous career highs in goals and points in a single season were six tallies and 37 points.

One possible explanation is that he’s a late bloomer—now approaching his prime and capable of sustaining high-rate play for the next three or four seasons. That’s the version of events that makes Boston’s interest plausible.

There’s a comparison embedded in the argument: J.D. Martinez joined the Red Sox in 2018 at 30 years old and carried his delayed peak performance into his early 30s. Even if Raddysh’s next run looks more like a 50-point regular than the 22-goal. 70-point output of this past year. the case is that it could still be commensurate value for an $8-9 million average annual value in a changing market.

The counter-scenario is harsher. If 2025-26 turns out to be a perfect storm and Raddysh regresses into more of a third-pairing option, the impact would be immediate for a Bruins team that can’t afford to misallocate a major contract.

Age doesn’t just sit on a spreadsheet, either. The Bruins would also be investing in a player who is set to turn 31 years old in February 2027.

There’s another way this bet could cut. If Boston chooses not to sign a defenseman like Raddysh, the alternative options can come with their own pain.

Trading for a younger but unproven defender—like Simon Nemec or Olen Zellweger, with Zellweger listed as a left-shot option—could force the Bruins to give up first-round picks or blue-chip prospects to make the deal work.

If the Bruins want more established names, the cost rises again. The price for players like St. Louis’ Colton Parayko or Vancouver’s Filip Hronek is described as even higher.

The appeal of signing in free agency is that Boston could address a key need without selling the farm in the process. Even if the Bruins’ front office keeps an eye on hockey trades or considers giving up picks or prospects for another move. the assets could potentially be redirected toward helping up front instead of being tied up in acquiring a top-four defenseman.

The Bruins may not have the stomach—or the outright assets—to acquire both a top-six forward and a top-four defenseman through trade in the same summer. But the structure of their plan could still cover both bases by signing one target in free agency and then using trade chips for the other.

For now. the sense around the move is clear: on paper. Raddysh looks like a strong fit for a Bruins team that needs an upgrade on defense and also has other pressing needs this offseason. The trouble is the part Boston can’t ignore—Raddysh is likely to be coveted by several other teams. and that can turn interest into a bidding war.

Competing deals can quickly turn a “strong fit” into a dangerous financial commitment, especially for a franchise already feeling squeezed by burdensome contracts like Lindholm.

If the Bruins find a way to clear a few contracts off their books, the risk becomes easier to swallow. Then a swing at a player who could be a late bloomer—and a significant upgrade—might look more appealing.

As things stand, though, Boston is expected to kick the tires rather than lock itself in immediately. A trade remains a realistic alternative for a Bruins team that has to be bold this offseason, but still has limits on what it can afford to get wrong.

Among the names waiting for the next chapter is Raddysh—an intriguing defensive option with a breakout season to his credit, and enough uncertainty around it that the Bruins’ next decision won’t be about whether he’s a good player. It will be about whether Boston can afford to bet on his timing.

Boston Bruins Darren Raddysh Tampa Bay Lightning NHL free agency defensive pairings Rasmus Andersson Charlie McAvoy cap space Elias Lindholm