Maple Leafs labelled "s*** organization" over Darren Raddysh trade.

The Toronto Maple Leafs made a very bold move on Friday when they acquired 30 year old defenseman Darren Raddysh in a sign and trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Leafs only gave up a 5th round pick in the deal but signed Raddysh to an 8 year deal at an average annual value and cap hit of $8.5 million per season, a contract that has already become a hot button topic in hockey media.

Since the deal was signed, numerous figures have come out of the woodwork to mock the Maple Leafs over the deal including Pittsburgh area radio host Mark Madden who had some rather vitriolic comments about the Maple Leafs following the move.

"Only Leafs fans [and] stooge media could celebrate acquiring some ham [and] egger like he’s the second coming of Red Kelly," wrote Madden on social media platform X. "It’s a ***t organization [and] will never win."

While Madden's comments were rather blunt in nature, he wasn't the only one to express his concerns over the deal. Thomas Drance of The Athletic expressed his belief that the deal was simply too risky for his liking.

"This deal significantly exceeds what I think Toronto’s reasonable risk tolerance should be," wrote Drance. "The path to Raddysh adding value is extremely narrow on this deal."

From my own perspective the greatest concern here is that the trade was struck with a divisional rival in the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning were more than happy to see Raddysh sign a pricey long-term contract extension with one of their divisional rivals, this in spite of the fact that the Lightning had the cap space available to make the very same move.

Not only do the Lightning currently have over $13 million in available cap space, but with no state tax would have also likely been able to keep the number much lower on a new deal for Raddysh. The fact that they willingly facilitated this sign and trade to a divisional rival looks like a significant red flag from my perspective.

This will also be a very difficult contract to move for the Maple Leafs later down the road with signing bonuses throughout the contract making it more difficult to buy out, and with significant trade protection for Raddysh throughout all 8 years of this deal.

While the rest of the league reacts critically to the move however, fans in Toronto seem to be enjoying the show. One user perfectly summed up the entire conversation around Raddysh's new deal in one hilarious AI-generated image.

Did the Maple Leafs make a mistake? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.