We are now under one week away from the 2026 NHL Draft, where we will see the crop of prospects that will hopefully be a nice start to the Vancouver Canucks’ rebuild. There won’t be any shortage of news items over the following week, but there are a pair of discussions to be had about blueliners around the NHL.

Late Thursday night, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman dropped the bomb that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning were working on a potential sign-and-trade between the two Atlantic Division rivals, which would send defenceman Darren Raddysh up north. That was confirmed on Friday morning when the Toronto Maple Leafs shared it on social media.

In return for the 6’1″, right-shot undrafted defenceman, the Lightning receive the Maple Leafs’ fifth-round pick (133rd overall).

Raddysh, 30, is coming off a career year, where he blossomed into a top offensive defenceman for the Lightning, scoring 22 goals and 48 assists for 70 points in 73 games. That is a massive improvement over his previous career high of six goals and 37 points, set just last season. He saw his minutes shoot up significantly from the year prior, averaging over five minutes more per game (22:42) this season.

Analytically, Raddysh was a darling. Among the 146 blueliners to play over 1,000 5v5 minutes this season, Raddysh was ninth in Corsi For Percentage (57.4%), 18th in Shots For (55.1%), and Goals For Percentage (59.2%), seventh in Expected Goals For Percentage (57.1%) and Scoring Chances For Percentage (57.3%), and sixth in High-Dancer Scoring Chances For Percentage (57.6%).

This is all great, but the big question is whether Raddysh can continue on this late-blooming trajectory or if last year was the outlier? Are his 10 power play goals and 26 power play points just a result of Nikita Kucherov feeding him at the point? There are pathways to make that work again. If the Maple Leafs select Gavin McKenna at first overall, he’s got that elite vision to tee up Raddysh for some point bombs. And the Leafs haven’t really had that power play quarterback since Morgan Rielly fell off a few seasons ago.

To be honest, we haven’t loved the moves GM John Chayka has made after taking over. The Jim Hiller hire was questionable, given his track record. The Joseph Woll trade didn’t make much sense either. This move is probably the best of the three. Getting ahead of the top point-producing defenceman in free agency and only parting with a fifth-round pick to do so is a nice piece of business. It’s the contract that may make this move regrettable for the Leafs when Raddysh hits the wrong side of 30.

What might actually mean more is that the Lightning were willing to trade Raddysh to a division foe. Lightning GM Julien Brisebois must be pretty darn confident that extending that player to that contract isn’t going to work out for the Maple Leafs to allow him to go to one of their rivals. You’re never going to win a trade when you trade a 70-point right-shot defender for just a fifth-round pick. But if that contract hinders the Leafs in the future, maybe Brisebois is playing chess while Chayka is playing checkers.

According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, multiple teams are exploring a trade for Buffalo Sabres defenceman Bowen Byram.

Byram, 25, has one year remaining on the two-year bridge deal he signed with the Sabres in 2024-25. After suffering through multiple injuries throughout his days in Colorado, Byram has put up back-to-back 82-game campaigns, tallying 18 goals and 62 assists for 80 points with a plus-26 rating. He has seen his minutes climb to north of 22 minutes since moving to Buffalo, oftentimes playing his off-side on a pairing with Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power.

His agent, Darren Ferris, is known for walking his clients to unrestricted free agency, allowing them to choose their destination. The Sabres do not have to make a Byram move immediately, but if they want to maximize their return, it may be best to move off of him sooner rather than later – especially if he wants the reported price tag.

Daily Faceoff Insider David Pagnotta had this nugget on the Byram situation on Thursday:

“Speaking of the Sabres, chatter has picked up again over Bowen Byram, who has one-year left on his deal. He’s looking for north of $10 million per year on his next contract. With a deep defensive corps, the Sabres may explore moving him for a young, top-six forward.”

This isn’t the first time Byram’s name has been in trade rumours. We spoke about the 6’1″ left-shot defenceman being a trade target for the Canucks just last offseason. However, now that the Canucks are just starting their rebuild, acquiring the Cranbrook, BC native doesn’t make much sense for this new regime, nor for Byram. He likely wants to chase another Stanley Cup with a contender, rather than suffering through a lengthy rebuild. Not to mention, if he wants $10 million per season and is going to cost a top-six forward, that might be too rich for the Canucks’ blood.

What do you think, Canucks fans? Would you want to see the Canucks get into the Byram sweepstakes? Let us know in the comments below!