NHL trade grades: Report cards for biggest deals of 2026 offseason

The 2026 NHL offseason trading period has begun.

As the deals continue to roll in, ESPN reporters will be grading all the moves with the biggest impacts, including instant reaction on how the GMs involved did.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning kicked things into high gear, with the Leafs landing pending free agent defenseman Darren Raddysh on Friday. Then the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators turned the knobs up to 11 with a blockbuster trade that sent Brady Tkachuk to the Sunshine State, with four high draft picks heading back to Canada’s capital.

Read on for more, and keep this page bookmarked as the trade volume rises ahead of the NHL draft on June 26-27 and free agency on July 1.

Note: The most recent trades will appear highest up on the page.

Having Matthew Tkachuk simply wasn’t enough for the Florida Panthers. That’s why they collected the full set with the summer’s first blockbuster.

The Panthers acquired Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for the Nos. 9 and 25 picks in this year’s draft, a 2029 first-round pick and a 2030 second-round pick.

So, what are the short- and long-term impacts — aside from it being easier for their parents to catch all their games? Here’s a look at how both teams performed in this trade and what it all means.

“There are levels to this.” We hear that phrase a lot, and this trade is another example of why it’s such a popular saying.

Of course, there’s the Tkachuk of it all. It’s been talked about for some time now. Especially as the NHL continues what must now be viewed as an exodus of star American-born players leaving Canadian markets. One of the earliest examples of that trend was, well, Matthew Tkachuk, back in 2022.

As for the dynamics of the trade itself? The first level came earlier Sunday, when Panthers general manager Bill Zito got the No. 25 pick in this year’s draft in a trade with the Seattle Kraken in which Florida parted with forward Mackie Samoskevich.

By getting a second-first round pick in this week’s draft, Zito had some options. It also meant the Panthers were saving potential cap space for something (or someone) else, with Samoskevich having yet to sign a contract as a restricted free agent.

But with all of that in his control, Zito offered a package that was headlined with the No. 9 pick and another first-round pick in this year’s draft as part of a haul of three first-round picks, a tactic that showed his intent to get Brady Tkachuk and the need to win now.

Injuries to Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk damaged the Panthers’ bid for a third straight Stanley Cup this past season. But adding another Tkachuk to what should be a fully healthy roster makes what was already a dangerous team even more of a threat.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice will have a top-six forward group that can feature any combination of Barkov, Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and both Tkachuk brothers.

That’s seven forwards who are all under contract for at least the next two seasons. Brady Tkachuk has two years remaining on his contract worth $8.21 million annually, with the idea that there’s a strong chance he’ll likely re-sign with the club when the time comes. Matthew Tkachuk has four years left on his contract, at $9.50 million annually.

PuckPedia projects the Panthers still have a little more than $7.071 million in cap space now that they have both Tkachuks. It’s still enough space to address what remains their biggest question going into free agency: goaltending.

Zito and his front office staff have between now and when free agency starts July 1 to figure out what their goaltending will look like, with the idea that their latest move to acquire the younger Tkachuk further reinforces why South Florida remains a destination.

The Senators were in what has become a familiar bind whenever a team has a star player who is constantly being discussed as a flight risk:

• Do you trade the player now with the aim of getting a significant return that can help you immediately and in the future?

• Or do you try to make it work, knowing there’s a chance you could lose him for nothing in free agency?

Senators general manager Steve Staios took the first option and received a return for Brady Tkachuk that is indeed comparable to what his counterparts attained in similar deals involving Jack Eichel and Quinn Hughes.

That’s the aspect of this trade that really can’t be logically questioned.

Now, it’s just a matter of what life looks like for the Senators post-Tkachuk. And that is the aspect of this deal that can be questioned, adding to the complexity in the aftermath.

The Senators now own three first-round picks in this year’s draft — and more than $25.183 million in projected cap space. They certainly can entertain nearly any option entering July 1.

Can the Sens use this coming week to get someone who is a like-for-like replacement for Tkachuk? Or do they pick up a player who is close enough when it comes to replacing Tkachuk’s production?

Even the production aspect comes with a few questions. Is it important for them to go get another power forward who can consistently generate offensive opportunities? Or is it more about attaining the player with the strongest offensive skill set regardless of his playing profile?

Tkachuk averaged 0.81 points per game for his career with Ottawa. He averaged 0.98 points over 60 games this past season, and he scored 20 or more goals in all but one of his eight campaigns with the Sens.

Finding that player in free agency this summer could prove to be challenging. There are players available — for now — such Anthony Mantha, Mason Marchment and Alex Tuch who could be options if they do not re-sign or have their rights traded elsewhere prior to July 1.

There also will be teams that need to create cap space or players who could become options because they’re in need of a change of scenery, including Jake DeBrusk.

What helps is that Staios and his front office can sell any potential options on what players would be coming to if they wanted to sign with the Sens.

Ottawa was a playoff team in 2025-26, and it is trying to get back to the postseason for a third straight campaign — and advance beyond the first round for the first time since 2016-17.

They have a talented core led by Drake Batherson, Thomas Chabot, Dylan Cozens, Shane Pinto, Jake Sanderson, Tim Stutzle and Linus Ullmark.

It’s a good sales pitch. But it comes with the understanding that there’s going to be competition from other teams for those players, with the reality that it could take time (and possibly additional resources) to find the strongest replacement. — Clark

The Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Darren Raddysh from the Lightning in exchange for Toronto’s fifth-round selection in the 2026 NHL draft.

Raddysh has signed an eight-year contract extension with the Maple Leafs worth $8.5 million annually.

The NHL free agent puddle just got even shallower thanks to Toronto, as Raddysh was one of the best options for offensive defensemen. That said, there’s undeniable risk for the Maple Leafs here. Raddysh, 30, had the best season of his late-blooming NHL career in 2025-26 for the Lightning: career highs in goals (22), assists (48), points (70) and plus-minus (+21), playing a career high 22:42 per contest in 73 games.

That a decent chunk of those points (26) came on a power play featuring NHL MVP Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point and others shouldn’t be a strike against him. The defenseman with a booming shot will also have ample weaponry in Toronto, with Auston Matthews, William Nylander and potentially Gavin McKenna once the Maple Leafs draft him next week. Please note that Jim Hiller, just hired as Maple Leafs head coach, ran the power play during his four years as an assistant under Mike Babcock in Toronto.

Raddysh wasn’t a one-dimensional player in Tampa. GM John Chayka of Toronto called him “one of the NHL’s premier two-way defensemen, combining elite puck-moving ability with poise, competitiveness and strong play in all three zones.” He’s not wrong, based on the results last season.

Emphasis: last season.

Raddysh is one of two things. He could be a defenseman who figured things out a little later in his career — keep in mind he was an undrafted free agent who got his start in the Chicago Blackhawks’ organization in 2017-18 — but then really hit his stride as a top offensive D-man. The Lightning have seen this story before: Dan Boyle was also an undrafted rookie who broke out at 26 but didn’t hit his offensive apex until he was 30 years old (63 points).

Or, Darren Raddysh could be another in a long tradition of NHL players singing for the supper before unrestricted free agency. In his case, he belted out an aria.

The Leafs handed Raddysh an eight-year contract worth $8.5 million against the salary cap annually, which is a slight raise over the $836,000 in base salary he made last season. AFP Analytics expected his contract to net out to around $8 million annually on a six-year term. So the Leafs went a little higher and a little longer than you might want on a player like Raddysh, but given what the market could have been on July 1, they wanted to make sure they got him.

Logistically, he gives Chayka a new PP1 quarterback before the Leafs trade defenseman Morgan Rielly, assuming the seemingly inevitable comes to fruition.

Raddysh may never repeat last season’s numbers, but they also shouldn’t fall off a cliff. He’s a good, solid addition to a Maple Leafs blue line that needed more puck-movers and defenseman that can win the neutral zone. It’s a risk worth taking.

The Lightning get a fifth-rounder for what amounts to the negotiating rights to Raddysh. Please recall they sent a third-rounder to the Carolina Hurricanes for the negotiating rights to Jake Guentzel back in 2023.

They were hoping Raddysh might stick around on a hometown discount, with other lineup holes to fill and a monster extension for Kucherov looming — he’s entering the final year of his current deal. But with this kind of money on the table, Raddysh was going to walk.

Obviously, the gamble here by GM Julien BriseBois is that they’re going to find another offensive defenseman who can fill the hole created by Raddysh for less money and fewer years than the Leafs handed him. That’s not necessarily someone who can play PP1, assuming that Victor Hedman is good to go next season. But they could use another puck-mover on the right side, and don’t really have anyone in their system that pops out as a potential replacement.

The search begins. — Wyshynski