Maple Leafs linked to trade that would reunite two brothers in Toronto
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Toronto already brought one Raddysh brother home this summer, and now there's real chatter about completing the set by going after Rangers winger Taylor Raddysh.
The Maple Leafs pulled off a heartwarming move back in June, acquiring defenseman Darren Raddysh from Tampa Bay in a sign-and-trade and locking him up on an eight year deal worth $68 million.
Darren and his younger brother Taylor grew up just outside Toronto in Caledon, Ontario, playing mini sticks in the basement in Leafs jerseys long before either of them made the NHL.
Now Toronto is being connected to Taylor as well, and the timing could not be more meaningful for the family.
A wish their father never got to see
Their dad Dwayne spent years hoping to watch one of his boys suit up for the Leafs, but he passed away in March after a battle with pancreatic cancer, just months before Darren's trade home.
The connection to Taylor first picked up steam through a Toronto Sun column the same day Darren's deal was announced, and it has only grown since.
Taylor is on an expiring, affordable $1.5 million deal, which lines up well for a Rangers team already retooling.
He posted a career high 20 goals with Chicago in 2022-23 and added 20 assists with Washington the year after, the kind of secondary scoring touch Toronto's bottom six has been missing.
What it would cost Toronto
Recent trade value estimates peg the price around a 2027 fifth round pick, or a sixth rounder paired with a smaller prospect, a modest ask for a low risk depth scoring option.
Nothing suggests Taylor has requested out of New York or that a formal offer is on the table.
But between the family ties, Toronto's roster need and the contract fitting so cleanly, this feels like exactly the kind of move John Chayka likes to make.
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