The Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the NHL’s most disappointing teams in 2025/26, and this off-season, they made some major changes, starting with their General Manager and Head Coach role, hiring John Chayka and Jim Hillier to the respective roles.
However, the changes didn’t stop there, as the team made some major additions to the roster, starting with No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna while also signing the likes of Sergei Bobrovsky and Darren Raddysh. The latter is coming off a career year with the division rival Tampa Bay Lightning, but now, Maple Leafs fans have reacted on social media after he was snubbed in the NHL’s latest list.
Darren Raddysh not Named a top-20 Defenseman in the NHL
GettyDarren Raddysh with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Over the weekend, the NHL named their list of the 20 best defensemen in the National Hockey League, and while there were plenty of superstars throughout the list, one name was missing, and that was Raddysh. That comes on the back of a career year with the 30-year-old scoring 22 goals and adding 70 points in 73 games played, with many in Toronto believing they had gotten a top-20 player at his position after the trade with Tampa Bay.
Their fans on social media were certainly happy to express that frustration too, as many have called out the NHL’s list for ‘bias’, while calling this arguably the biggest snub on the entire list, even though other fanbases certainly have differing opinions of their own.
Sure, some have defended the ‘snub’ by calling out Raddysh for this being the only one good year of his career, but given that he had more points than the No. 7 player on the list, Matthew Schaefer, there may be a point to be made here from Maple Leafs fans on Raddysh, who will look to get even better in the first year of his new deal with Toronto.
Can the Maple Leafs Bounce Back in 2026/27?
While Toronto are betting on some players above 30 in Raddysh and Bobrovsky, they’ve also added players like Teddy Blueger and Jack Roslovic, giving this entire team a different look to what we saw in 2025/26.
Simply put, a healthy Maple Leafs roster this season looks better than most of the groups they’ve put together in recent seasons, and if they can stay that way throughout the 2026/27 campaign and get great play from all of their new additions, this is a team that will be in the hunt for the Stanley Cup Playoffs next year for certain.
Ultimately, whether or not Raddysh was named a top-20 defenseman, he’s the type of offensive threat from the blue line that Toronto haven’t had for quite some time, and if he can go anywhere close to what he produced for Tampa Bay last year with a bounce back campaign from Auston Matthews and this top-six, Toronto should be a force to be reckoned with once again.
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