Jacob Wolf ESPN Staff Writer 2 Minute Read

After spending nearly an entire season on OpTic's academy team, Dardoch will make his return to the LCS with Team SoloMid, sources say. Provided by Riot Games

Team SoloMid are finalizing a buyout agreement with Immortals for jungler Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett, who will join TSM's starting lineup for 2020, league sources told ESPN.

This marks the latest move in a busy offseason for North America's most popular League of Legends franchise. On Monday, the team finalized a transfer that would trade supports with Counter Logic Gaming, sending Andy "Smoothie" Ta to CLG with Vincent "Biofrost" Wang returning to TSM. The team also agreed to terms with former Splyce AD carry Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup, who will replace former TSM bot laner Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen.

In October, the team reached a multiyear contract extension with mid laner Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg that in addition to salary, granted him an ownership stake in the franchise. Bjergsen first joined the team in November 2013 and has become an integral part of the building of its League of Legends roster.

In addition to those players, TSM are expected to retain top laner Sergen "Broken Blade" Çelik and jungler Matthew "Akaadian" Higginbotham. Akaadian had previously privately received interest from other teams, including Immortals, but will now most likely remain on the TSM roster in some capacity.

TSM's acquisition of Dardoch comes after the team missed out on former Team Liquid jungler Jake "Xmithie" Puchero, who became a free agent on Monday. Xmithie received interest from nearly half of the league -- including a renewal offer from Liquid -- but TSM and Immortals ended up being the two final teams for Xmithie, sources said. Xmithie ultimately chose Immortals, returning to the organization he once led to the League of Legends World Championship in 2017, as reported by ESPN on Monday.

With the signing of Kobbe and trades for Biofrost and Dardoch, TSM look to become a top North American team and earn a bout to the League of Legends World Championship -- a feat which it has not accomplished since late 2017.

Dardoch joins TSM after competing for nearly an entire season in the North American Academy league. Once considered one of the best young jungle prospects in North America, Dardoch was frequently criticized during his time as a professional player on Team Liquid and Immortals for being difficult to work with, according to some of his former teammates.

Team SoloMid and Immortals declined to comment.