Taylor Raddysh’s first week with the Blackhawks couldn’t have gone much better.
Traded from the Lightning in the Brandon Hagel blockbuster, Raddysh jumped from a fourth-line role in Tampa to a second-line role in Chicago and adjusted quickly.
After a quiet debut against the Wild, he tallied four points and 10 shots on goal in his next three games (against the Jets, Ducks and Kings), making an immediate impact on the ice.
Off the ice, his preexisting chemistry with Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome—his linemates with the OHL’s Erie Otters back in 2016-17 — as well as with Boris Katchouk, who came with him in the trade, helped him socially acclimate. Interim coach Derek King would later say Raddysh “looked comfortable right off the bat.”
“It has honestly been an easy transition,” Raddysh said Thursday. “Guys have been so welcoming for me, and [it has] been a lot of fun. Coming to a team, you never know what to expect, but it has been pretty easy. I’m really enjoying it so far.”
The 24-year-old winger’s hot start has faded back to earth lately, though. He entered Thursday with just one point and eight shots on goal his last five games.
“We gave [Raddysh] too much right off the bat, and he faded a little bit,” King said Thursday. “[He and Katchouk] got a little sloppy the last couple of games. They looked tired.
“I think they’re refreshed now, so my message to ‘Rads’ today — when I talked to him—was to keep it simple, shoot the puck. He has a great shot, so why pass the puck? Obviously there’s a time and place to do it, but you have to be a little selfish once in a while.”
Notably, Raddysh’s shooting rate has regressed back in line with his season average. He has taken 10.9 shots per 60 even-strength minutes with the Hawks compared to 10.5 with the Lightning.
And although his sizable increase in playing time — 16:14 with the Hawks compared to 11:03 with the Lightning—still gives him more chances to make impacts on games, he hopes to gradually grow into a true second-line-caliber forward.
“I’ve just got to be more of a complete player,” Raddysh said. “It’s something I’m trying to do [on] both ends of the ice. In Tampa, I was more of a defensive guy — where they needed me — and here there’s a bigger role.
“I’ve just got to keep shooting. That’s one of my biggest strengths. I’m getting the chances and maybe just looking too much for other guys. I have shots that are there and I’ve just got to start taking them. Guys that I’ve been playing with have been able to find me well; I’ve just got to start putting more pucks on net.”
Raddysh has so far occupied the “bumper” role on the first power-play unit, which he said he has played before but not in the NHL. Whether coincidentally or not — the Hawks’ power-play metrics aren’t really better with Raddysh than without him, for the record — the ‘PP’ entered Thursday a solid 7-for-23 since his arrival.
After a hectic initial move, he finally retrieved the rest of his belongings when the Hawks visited Tampa last week. Under contract through 2024 with an extremely affordable $758,333 salary cap hit, he can settle down in Chicago knowing there’s a good chance he’ll stick through the rebuild.
“It’s a fresh start here, so [I have] to come in and just keep proving myself every day,” he said.
