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Ryan McDonagh Traded Back To Tampa Bay Lightning
Ryan McDonagh Traded Back To Tampa Bay Lightning
Ryan McDonagh is surprisingly on the move. However, it is to a very familiar place. After a solid season on the blue line for the Predators, Nashville is moving him back to the Tampa Bay Lightning. What makes it funny is he was a cap casualty only two years ago. The Preds just confirmed the news:
There are very clear cap implications here. The former Rangers captain has two years remaining on his contract at $6,750,000 per season. He also has a no-trade clause but of course, he would waive it to move back to Tampa Bay. He clearly has plenty left in the tank at 34 years old. In 2023-2024, he put up 32 points in 74 games, his highest scoring clip since before the pandemic. Lightning fans are probably delighted by the news, as he was a core part to their historic run earlier this decade. After joining during the 2018 trade deadline, McDonagh put up 99 points in 267 games for the Bolts and solidified a defense corps that won eleven straight playoff series from 2020 to 2022.
Kudos to Trotz and the Preds for this deal. Remember he joined Nashville two years ago in exchange for Phillipe Myers and Grant Mismash. Now you get a second rounder for 2025 that can either replenish the prospect pool or be used as trade ammo. There’s a good chance that they are big game hunting this summer depending on who’s available.
Time To Make Cents
With McDonagh in the fold, Tampa Bay now has just over $5 million in cap space. They have a laundry list of free agents to bring back with captain Steven Stamkos at the top of that list. Of course, he might be willing to take a discount and return for a very cheap contract. Two names on the way out could be Conor Sheary and Tanner Jeannot. That will open up close to $5 more million in cap space but Julien BriseBois will might have to get really creative here. June 1st is still weeks away so we are not even close to the stove heating up for the offseason.
A Lightning icon is coming back for another tenure. Ryan McDonagh is returning to a familiar home after two really solid seasons for the Predators.
