“What's this team been around, 30-plus years? And he scores the most of all defensemen,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "You’ve gotta tip your cap to him. It’s impressive."
Cooper previously noted that Raddysh has always held offensive prowess, remembering a time when the defenseman led the American Hockey League (AHL) in scoring around Christmas before his jump to the NHL. The coach credited Raddysh’s work to round out his game, also saying he and JJ Moser have fed off each other’s games as a pairing this season.
The points have continued to stack for the 30-year-old defenseman, who is now up to 67 points in 69 games. He ranks seventh among all NHL defenders in scoring this season, and his 21 goals tie for third on the same list.
When the Tampa Bay power play got off to a slow start this fall, Raddysh got an opportunity to lead the top of the man-advantage setup. The power play took off, and so did Raddysh’s offense.
His power-play goal on March 24 against the Minnesota Wild was his 10th of the season, joining Roman Hamrlik (12 PPG in 1995-96) and Boyle (10 PPG in 2006-07) as the only defensemen in team history to hit the mark in one campaign. His 25 power-play points rank third on the Lightning and sit sixth among NHL defensemen this season.
He isn’t taking his career year for granted, but he’s also been quick to credit his teammates.
“It's been fun. It's been a great group this year, and I think we’ve got something special,” he said. “I’m pretty fortunate to play with a lot of really good hockey players. It's been a lot of fun, and hopefully we can continue this.”
Those teammates, including Moser, weren’t shy about giving Raddysh the credit he deserves for an impressive year.
Moser has spent much of this season playing alongside Raddysh on the team’s top pairing. The former hasn’t been surprised to see his defensive partner’s success.
“We know that he has it in him. Even when he started the season, it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be for a couple of games and he's gonna cool off’, because we know the quality that he has, and you’re seeing that every night,” Moser said.
Ripping the biscuit
Lightning forward Gage Goncalves has always been a fan of Raddysh, dating back to their time as teammates with the Syracuse Crunch, Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate.
“I remember playing with him in the AHL. I was like, ‘How is this guy not in the NHL?’ I mean, just with his shot alone. It's been a long time coming for Raddy, and he's a guy that I use a lot to try and talk to if I'm in a slump or stuff like that. He works on his game a ton, and honestly, I've seen it since I came into playing pro hockey in the AHL.”
Raddysh’s shot continues to be one of the hardest in the NHL—He has fired 88 different shots that have surpassed 90 mph this season, more than any other player. The next closest is Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard with 48.
He is one of 10 NHL players in 2025-26 to fire a shot which reached 100 mph.
“You see his shot. You see how dangerous it is, how fast it is. You see the stats like shots over 90 mph and he’s leading the league by a country mile,” Moser said. “That’s going to translate into points, into goals. And it’s not only how hard he shoots it, but also the way that he always gets the shot through. He always gets it on net. He always gets it in an interesting situation like last game where there's a rebound that we can score on, and it’s highly impressive.”
Even from a few feet away, a Raddysh shots zip away so fast that sometimes it can be hard to follow the puck.
“Yeah, for sure,” Moser said. “I think it also feels like that for the goalie, so it feels the same for everyone.”
Goncalves said that booming shot flies faster than any other player he’s seen over his career.
“He's one of the best D-men in the world I think. He can defend well, he's got a bomb of a shot,” Goncalves said. “He makes super great plays coming out of his own zone. So I’m happy to see him get the recognition and all the points he deserves.”
Raddysh is playing just shy of 23 minutes a night for the Lightning, five minutes more per game than he averaged a season ago when he scored 37 points in 73 games. Those numbers are in the past now as Raddysh aims to finish his career season strong and help the Lightning to a long playoff run.
Those around him have no doubt that Raddysh will do his part to make it happen.
“I think he was just trying to round out some other parts of his game, but his confidence level now with the puck and what he can and can't do, it's taken him a couple years to kind of figure that out in this league…His confidence level’s been big since he's been on the power play full time, and he's shooting that puck with confidence,” Cooper said. “And anytime you can shoot it as hard as he can, that really helps. But good on him. You always like to see good guys get rewarded, and Raddy’s a good guy.”
