Panthers Land Brady Tkachuk; Leafs Get Raddysh
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- Florida Panthers acquired Brady Tkachuk from Ottawa for the Nos. 9 and 25 picks in the 2026 draft, a 2029 first-round pick, and a 2030 second-round pick, earning an 'A' grade from ESPN.
- Bill Zito first obtained the No. 25 pick from Seattle by trading forward Mackie Samoskevich, then bundled it with the No. 9 pick as part of a three-first-round-pick haul to signal a 'win now' push.
- Brady Tkachuk has two years remaining on his contract at $8.21 million annually, and PuckPedia projects the Panthers will still have $7.071 million in cap space — enough to address goaltending in free agency.
- Ottawa Senators received a 'B+' grade and now hold three 2026 first-round picks plus $25.183 million in projected cap space, though ESPN flagged the challenge of replacing Tkachuk's 0.81 career points-per-game production.
- Toronto Maple Leafs landed defenseman Darren Raddysh from Tampa Bay for a fifth-round 2026 pick and signed him to an eight-year, $8.5-million-per-year extension, earning a 'B' grade.
- Raddysh posted career highs of 22 goals, 48 assists, and 70 points in 2025-26 — and ESPN flagged the breakout could be a pre-UFA performance spike, comparing the risk profile to Dan Boyle's late-career surge.
Why it matters: Florida now has a top-six of seven forwards — Barkov, Bennett, Marchand, Reinhart, Verhaeghe, and both Tkachuks — all under contract for at least two years, with goaltending as the lone remaining question. Ottawa's return is comparable to what Buffalo got for Jack Eichel and Vancouver for Quinn Hughes, but the Senators still have to replace 0.81 PPG of production before the puck drops.
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