SIMMONS SAYS: McDavid gave Raddysh thumbs-up 14 years ago

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On the second day of the Ontario Hockey League priority selection draft of 2012, Sherry Bassin asked a personal question to Connor McDavid.

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“What do you think of Darren Raddysh?”

Raddysh was so far down on most draft lists that next to nobody was considering taking him in the fifth round, let alone at all. The next to nobody in this case was Bassin, the junior hockey lifer, who had seen Raddysh play so many times, not because he intended to scout him, but because he was scouting McDavid that many times.

He saw Raddysh play the wing early in the season for the minor midget Marlies. He saw him play defence during the middle of the season. By the end of the season, he saw him running the team’s power play. That transition caught Bassin’s eye.

He was intrigued by Raddysh’s size, strength and slap shot. Nobody was intrigued with Raddysh’s foot speed, dexterity or quickness on skates.

McDavid, the first pick in that draft, gave Bassin a two-thumbs up on his then-teammate Raddysh, who was selected by Erie in the fifth round.

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“When Connor said that, I figured that was good enough for me,” said Bassin.

Raddysh would go on to play 272 games for the Otters — 106 games more than McDavid did — and still got bypassed in the NHL draft. Twice. His feet were considered the problem. Not good enough. Not fast enough to play at the next level.

Raddysh wound up playing 339 games in the American Hockey League for three different organizations before being called up to play in Tampa Bay, nine years after being selected by Erie.

“Most people would have quit by then,” said Bassin.

The past three years, Raddysh played full-time for the Lightning under coach Jon Cooper. He just kept getting better and better. This past season was the first he played as a No. 1 defenceman, on the No. 1 power play and with Victor Hedman out with injury and personal issues. It was the first time Raddysh dominated the NHL with 212 shots on goal, scoring 22 times. Only two defencemen scored more.

Does that make him a late-developer or a one-year wonder with his new eight-year contract with the Maple Leafs?

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Bassin has been cheering for Raddysh to find his way for the past decade.

“I’m so proud of what he’s become,” said Bassin. “Tells you want kind of kid he is. He never gave up. Everyone wanted to give up on him.”

Not that long ago, Raddysh had a short visit with Bassin and his daughter after a game in Toronto. They talked a little bit about Raddysh’s father — who had only recently passed away — and what a special man he was. Bassin was at the funeral.

And in their conversation Raddysh turned to Bassin’s daughter and said: “Take good care of him, you’re lucky to have a special father like him.”

THIS AND THAT

I asked a Lightning insider: Aside from the slap shot, what makes Raddysh great? The answer: “He will never be mistaken for Cale Makar in the skating department. When your feet are not your asset, you have to be able to think the game well. He can do that. He can make breakout passes, and he’s got some jam and won’t shy from anything. He’s figured out how to play in the NHL.” … In his first 10 professional seasons, Raddysh was paid just more than $5 million in total. For the next eight years, he will paid $68 million by the Leafs … John Chayka’s first month and a half on the job as Maple Leafs general manager: He won the draft lottery. His 82-point AHL team, 15th overall, won the league championship. He secured the big shot Raddysh, the best available defenceman via trade, avoiding free agency. He made another trade of consequence. He fired one coach and hired another one. He let his media relations boss go. He stole the Minnesota Wild’s chief scout one month before the draft. He cleaned out some of his own front office. That’s about a year’s worth of accomplishments in his first six weeks on the job for the GM nobody else would have hired … Mats Sundin played for Pat Burns, Pat Quinn, Paul Maurice, Alain Vigneault, Mike Murphy, Pierre Page and Dave Chambers in his career. If anyone can distinguish the difference between good coaches and bad, it should be Sundin … What NHL coaches want most from their goaltenders: Dependability. As good as he looked on occasion, what the Leafs couldn’t do was depend on Joseph Woll. Management made the decision to trade him before they officially hired their new coach … What I heard no one say in the past month: Boy, I hope Jim Hiller is the next coach of the Maple Leafs … What I worry about with Hiller: He had some success coaching the Los Angeles Kings, but played a rather brain-numbing 1-3-1 while doing so. You do that with Auston Matthews and William Nylander on your team and that’s the best way to drive either player out of town. By the end in Los Angeles, the players were ready to riot with Hiller coaching them.

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HEAR AND THERE

After eight years in the NHL, there was some doubt about who about who was more valuable, Sidney Crosby or Jonathan Toews. Toews had won three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks, two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada and a Conn Smythe Trophy in Chicago. Crosby had won a Stanley Cup, the two gold medals, a Conn Smythe Trophy himself. Both were central to Canadian wins in the Olympic triumphs in Vancouver and Sochi. The second half of Toews’ career, however, came with the demise of the Blackhawks, health issues post-COVID and a scoring decline as time passed. There is no longer any conversation comparing Toews to Crosby, but one day the now retired Toews will be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Before Crosby will … Speaking of the Hall, Monday is election day. Patrice Bergeron and Carey Price should be sure things for the Class of 2026. After that, you wonder if sentimentality may plays a role and Rod Brind’Amour could get elected as a player. Overdue for election from my scorecard: Curtis Joseph, Rick Middleton and Patrik Elias … The dumbest narrative getting too much play in hockey these days: No agent will have his player sign with the Edmonton Oilers if Mike Babcock is the coach. Yeah, if I’m a player, I’ll tell my agent I won’t sign with a place where I could possibly play with Leon Draisaitl and McDavid … Nice week if you’re Gil Scott, agent to coaches and general managers in hockey. He got Hiller signed in Toronto and got Spencer Carbery a new deal with the Washington Capitals … The analytics champions are loving the fact that Carolina won the Stanley Cup, as if that’s a victory for graphs and charts everywhere. Someone needs to tell these people that the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Jordan Staal, top defenceman Jaccob Slavin and top forwards Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov were among nine Carolina players who were with the Hurricanes before the book worm Eric Tulsky was named GM. The Canes don’t win anything without Slavin and Staal.

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SCENE AND HEARD

How to salvage Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s season: Schedule every game against the Red Sox … The Cleveland Guardians — which still doesn’t sound right to me — have the lowest payroll in baseball. And they have more wins than the Blue Jays, who have the fourth highest … Maybe the greatest steal of Ross Atkins’ career: Louis Varland from Minnesota in exchange for Alan Roden and Kendry Rojas … Twenty-seven is a fabulous number if your name happens to be Guerrero, Darryl Sittler, Frank Mahovlich or Marv Luster. It’s not a great number if it’s your ERA and that’s why Brendon Little, at 27.00 in seven appearances, is no longer a Blue Jay … Is this the least interesting Red Sox team anyone has ever seen? … Just because FIFA tells you that Toronto Stadium is Toronto Stadium, doesn’t mean you have to call it that. If a World Cup game were being played at Fenway Park in Boston, would we be calling it Boston Stadium? … Too often I hear somebody on radio referring to wRC+ as a baseball statistic that is supposed to move the needle. The definition of the statistic, in case you were wondering: A comprehensive baseball statistic that measures a hitter’s overall offensive production compared to the league average, and adjusted for different ballparks and eras. So long as we’re clear on that now … An interesting view of Darnell Nurse from a pure hockey man: “I’d trade for him, then I’d move him to forward. He can skate. He’s got pretty good hands. He’s physical. He’s just not an upper-end NHL defenceman. I don’t think anyone’s going to think of him that way.”

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AND ANOTHER THING

The power of the World Cup: You can hate soccer. You can care nothing or know nothing about the countries playing. And then it’s on your TV and you can’t take eyes off it … Carolina won two Stanley Cups in a 26-year period and went to the conference final four other times. To win the Cup, you need 16 playoff wins. In the time between Carolina’s two championships, the Maple Leafs have won seven games in the playoffs, once. So they’ve never even been halfway to 16 wins … From the time William Karlsson went down in the Stanley Cup final, the Vegas Golden Knights never won another game, being outscored 6-1. In Karlsson’s 14 healthy games, the Knights were 10-4 and he was only scored on just five times at even strength in the entire playoffs … In trying to do too much, McDavid has been scored on 35 times in his past 28 playoff games … The Montreal Canadiens can’t be considered serious playoff contenders until Cole Caufield becomes a serious playoff scorer. Caufield’s even-strength numbers in 19 playoff games this year: Five goals for, 13 against. By comparison, Taylor Hall was 22 goals for, eight against for the Hurricanes … The Toronto Tempo is worth watching and I wasn’t sure that would be the case. Marina Mabrey popped in a career-high 37 points Friday night against the Connecticut team that didn’t protect her in the expansion draft. That was something special to see … Did you remember that Mario Lemieux is the most recent Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP to play for a team that didn’t make the playoffs? That happened with the Penguins in 1988 … If I were a betting service, I’d install the Oklahoma City Thunder as the favourite to win the NBA title next season. Still haven’t completely figured out how the Thunder lost to the San Antonio Spurs, who completely melted down against the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals … Bruce Boudreau has a career winning percentage of .626 coaching four different NHL teams. How come he seems to be dealt out of the coaching game now? … So deserving: Chris Cuthbert will receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame, and Swedish writer Gunnar Nordstrom is getting the Hall’s Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award. The awards salute an outstanding broadcaster and journalist, respectively. Both choices were overdue. Also deserving: Hazel Mae is getting the media award from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. This had to be an easy choice for those involved … Still don’t understand why Calgary baseball legend Russ Parker has been passed over year after year for the Canadian Baseball Hall … A personal anniversary that seems unusual to me: This is the first season in which I’ve written about the NHL and not covered a single Stanley Cup playoff game. My first playoff game was April 8, 1981. Calgary 4, Chicago 3. Among those playing for the Blackhawks that night: Tony Esposito was in goal; Doug Wilson on defence; Denis Savard and the rookie Darryl Sutter up front … Happy birthday to Paul Beeston (81), Anne Murray (81), Scottie Scheffler (30), Garrett Crochet (26), Sam Bennett (30), Bob Bourne (72), Pascal Rheaume (53), Gary Varsho (65), Koko B. Ware (69), Ron Low (76), Rick Sutcliffe (70) and Oshae Brissett (28) … And hey, whatever became of Bob Lenarduzzi?

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