Darren Raddysh Needs Chris Tanev, Not Rielly: Split the Pair Now

Darren Raddysh's first two games, in plain numbers

Darren Raddysh had the worst game of any Maple Leaf on opening night and one of the better ones 24 hours later. On Tuesday against Montreal, the $8.5-million defenceman was on the ice for all three Canadiens goals and was charged with a game-high five giveaways, including a failed breakout that led directly to Montreal's first goal. On Wednesday against the Islanders, he played 20:36, second on the team, and led Toronto with four shots on goal in a 2-1 win.

So which Darren Raddysh is the real one? Probably both. And that is exactly why LeafsLurker thinks Jim Hiller should act now, while the record is 1-1-0 and nobody is panicking: split the Rielly-Raddysh pair, put Raddysh with Chris Tanev, and let Morgan Rielly play with Jake McCabe.

This is not a call to bench anyone or to declare the contract a mistake after two games. It is an argument that the structure around Raddysh is making his job harder than it needs to be, and that a cheap fix is available.

Why the opener went wrong

The opening-night errors were not random. Raddysh's giveaways came on breakouts under modest pressure, the moment when a defenceman has to choose between a quick, safe exit and a riskier play that starts the rush. On Montreal's first goal, his attempted outlet was intercepted, the puck went back behind him, and with Kirby Dach closing he turned it over again. Montreal set up and scored.

Raddysh owned it afterward, saying he could personally be a little better. Hiller defended him, saying the team would be patient and acknowledging that a hometown player on a new eight-year contract carries extra pressure. Rielly said he feels great about the pair's chemistry and that the two spend a lot of time talking about how they want to play.

All of that is reasonable. None of it changes the structural problem: when both defencemen on a pair want to be the one jumping into the play, nobody is the outlet. Hiller himself said this week that the pairing would take time and that everyone would get better together. Toronto does not have a lot of time. Last season the club allowed 299 goals and finished eighth in the Atlantic with 78 points.

The pairing was always a gamble

We wrote during camp that Hiller's Rielly-Raddysh pairing was a deliberate bet with a known cost. Two offence-first defencemen on one pair, tilted toward offensive-zone starts and attached to the top six, is a high-event idea. When it works, it generates offence that a team built around Auston Matthews and William Nylander needs. When it fails, it fails on the counterattack, because there is no one hanging back.

Raddysh's résumé says he can be a high-end offensive defenceman. He scored 22 goals and 70 points in 73 games with Tampa Bay in 2025-26, led all NHL defencemen with 10 power-play goals and averaged 22:42 a night. That is why John Chayka acquired him in a sign-and-trade for a fifth-round pick and gave him eight years at an $8.5-million cap hit through 2034.

But Raddysh in Tampa was not asked to be the second puck-mover on his own pair. He was the shooter, the right-handed point threat, the player others got the puck to. Pairing him with Rielly asks both men to adjust their instincts at the same time, in a new system, in front of the toughest crowd in hockey.

The case for Darren Raddysh with Chris Tanev

Chris Tanev is the most reliable defensive defenceman on the roster and led the Leafs in ice time against the Islanders at 20:39. He does not need the puck to be effective. He retrieves, makes a simple first pass and lets his partner do the rest. Next to him, Raddysh becomes what he was in Tampa: the player who gets the puck and attacks with it, with a partner covering behind him.

The problem is handedness. Tanev and Raddysh are both right shots, which is the reason Hiller did not pair them in camp. One would have to play the left side. That is a real cost, but it is a smaller one than it sounds. A stay-at-home defender who mostly makes short passes off the boards is the natural candidate to try it. Asking a puck-mover like Raddysh to play on his off side would be the mistake; asking Tanev is not.

The alternative is Rielly with McCabe. Both are left shots, so one of them would play the right side, a cost of its own. But McCabe's game is physical and conservative, a natural complement to Rielly's skating, and it gives Rielly the defensive conscience he has lacked in his worst seasons.

What the second game actually showed

The fair counterargument is Wednesday. Raddysh was much better: cleaner exits, four shots, involvement in chances. If he can do that on the same pair two nights later, why change it?

Because Wednesday was a game Toronto led 2-0 after 12 minutes and spent defending. Game state matters. A team protecting a lead plays a simpler, more conservative style, and that suits a high-event pair because there are fewer rush chances against. The Leafs will not lead every game early. In tied or trailing situations, the Rielly-Raddysh pair will be asked to push, and that is when the counterattack risk is highest.

The other reason is the schedule. After Ottawa on Saturday and Nashville on Tuesday, Toronto plays at Vegas, Colorado and Utah in six days. Colorado's transition game, in particular, punishes pairs that both activate. Hiller does not want to discover the pairing's ceiling against Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.

Why patience alone is not the answer

Patience is right for the player. Raddysh is 30, he has one great season and several solid ones, and a two-game sample says nothing about his eight-year contract. Toronto should be patient with him in the sense of giving him minutes, power-play time and confidence.

Patience with the structure is a different question. Coaches change pairs constantly; it is not a verdict on anyone. Hiller can split them for a week, see whether Raddysh's exits get cleaner with Tanev and whether Rielly settles with McCabe, then reunite them in offensive situations, on the power play or late in games when Toronto needs a goal. The pair does not have to be permanent to be useful.

We made the broader point before the season in our argument that defence, not goaltending, will decide Toronto's season. Two games in, nothing has changed our mind.

What's next

Raddysh's next test is Saturday at 7 p.m. against the Ottawa Senators, a team that leans on speed through Tim Stützle and William Eklund. If the pair stays together, watch his breakout decisions in the first period; that is where the opener went wrong. If Hiller splits them, watch whether Raddysh's shot volume holds with a partner who is giving him the puck instead of competing for it.

His cap hit and term are on our contracts page for anyone keeping score at home. The contract is long. The pairing does not have to be. Hiller should make the change now, while it is a tweak, rather than in November, when it would be a headline.