In a season that ultimately ended in disappointment for the 2022-23 Tampa Bay Lightning, Darren Raddysh ended up being one of the more pleasant surprises during the season. His performance likely earned himself a spot on the Lightning’s blue line going forward and Tampa Bay now has a player on their hands that they may not have been sure they had before.
Around the time of the trade deadline when the Lightning traded away Cal Foote and Vlad Namestnikov, most presumed they would then look to add a defenseman with the cap space that had become available. General Manager Julien BriseBois ultimately elected to believe in what the Lightning organization already had on hand and decided to use the available cap space to recall Raddysh from the AHL and he took advantage of his opportunity.
When getting into his first game action this year, it seemed like that: just getting into game action. It soon became evident in his play that Raddysh became a preferred option in the Lightning’s top six defense, even ahead of veteran Zach Bogosian on the right side.
Raddysh ended up playing in 17 regular season games and dressed in all six first round playoff games. He never really looked out of place despite it being just his second year playing stints in the NHL. A lot of that is due to him being an older professional. He has been playing professionally since 2017 and made his NHL debut at 25 which is a bit older than most.
In Syracuse, Raddysh was having a solid season offensively, collecting 25 points in 61 games. Upon being called up, offense was not really an expectation in his game. Once finding more comfort at the NHL level, Raddysh developed a great sense of when to get involved offensively and would eventually record three points and another two in the playoffs. Since the expectations were not necessarily to be a regular on the scoresheet, the offense he provided ended up being a bonus.
"Fine, I'll do it myself."
— Bally Sports Sun: Lightning (@BallyLightning) April 23, 2023
- Darren Raddysh, probably.@TBLightning | #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/lerEtS93E7
A year ago, Raddysh was more than likely projected to be a career AHL’er and probably not thought of as much more than a call-up option in the NHL. The fact that the Lightning organization realized they have an NHL player on their hands speaks high volumes once again to the Lightning’s ability to find and develop talent.
The icing on the cake is that the Lightning have Raddysh under contract for another year at under $800K. On a team looking to find value in every last penny, Darren Raddysh presents another solid find.