Last October, the Montreal Canadiens took a risk by signing Lane Hutson to a max-term eight-year deal worth $8.85 million annually. At the time, Hutson had played only one season in the NHL, and while it was a great season, it was still a small sample size to commit such a big contract to a player.
That gamble continues to pay off for the Canadiens, and the latest example is the contract the Toronto Maple Leafs just agreed to with Darren Raddysh. On Friday morning, the Maple Leafs announced a sign-and-trade that sent a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Lightning for Raddysh after signing an eight-year deal worth $8.5 million, according to Pierre LeBrun.
Teams are desperate to find a number-one defenseman and the Canadiens have one on a bargain
Raddysh had an excellent season last year with the Lightning, as he had career-highs in goals (22) and assists (48) due in large part to his play on the power play with 10 power play goals and 16 power play assists. However, this breakout season came during a season where he turned 30 years old, and now the Maple Leafs have to hope that Raddysh can continue this level of play until he is 38 years old.
Meanwhile, Hutson got his contract at 20 years old and is only going to improve through the bulk of this deal. He would win the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie in 2024-25 after 66 points and this past season improved on those numbers with 12 goals and 66 assists.
In fact, when comparing the two players, Hutson already has more career points than Raddysh in about a full-season fewer games. The Canadiens defenseman has 146 career points in 166 games compared to Raddysh, who has 143 points in 249 NHL games.
Hutson is a player who should be in the discussion for the Norris Trophy every season moving forward. That is tough to say for Raddysh, and at best, he should be a decent number one defenseman who can help improve a power play unit, but would be better viewed as a great player on a second pair.
This latest contract for Raddysh shows the advantage the Canadiens have over the rest of the league with the bargain Lane Hutson's contract is. It gives them much more salary cap flexibility but the key will be how general manager Kent Hughes uses it to continue to add to the roster and build a Stanley Cup-contending team.
For now, the Canadiens and their fans should just be thankful they signed Hutson when they did after seeing players like Darren Raddysh get similar deals.
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