The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenseman Philippe Myers and forward Grant Mismash, the Lightning announced Sunday.
McDonagh, 33, played for the Lightning from 2018-22, winning two Stanley Cups (2020, 2021) during his tenure with the team. The 6’1″ left-handed defenseman has four years remaining on his contract at an average annual value of $6.75 million.
The Lightning originally acquired McDonagh from the New York Rangers at the 2018 trade deadline. He scored four goals and 26 points in 71 games with the Lightning during the 2021–22 regular season, adding one goal and five points in 23 playoff games as the Bolts fell to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.
McDonagh averaged 22:27 per game in the regular season, a figure that remained almost exactly the same (22:26) during the playoffs. He has a full no-trade clause on his contract, something he would’ve had to waive to approve a trade to the Predators.
Myers, 25, is the main piece coming back to Tampa in this deal. The 6’5″ right-handed defenseman struggled to find a role in Nashville last season after being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in the Ryan Ellis trade in July 2021.
After averaging 18:52 in 44 games with the Flyers in 2020–21, Myers split the 2021–22 season between the Predators and AHL Milwaukee. He scored just one goal and four points in 27 games during his lone campaign in Nashville.
As noted by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Myers’ contract — which carries a cap hit of $2.55 million for the 2022–23 season — comes with an interesting quirk. If the Lightning were to buy out the final year of Myers’ deal, they would receive a cap credit (essentially a negative cap hit) worth approximately $617,000 in 2022–23 before being hit with a $633,000 cap penalty in 2023–24.
Mismash, 23, is a 6’1″ left wing who scored six goals and 12 points in 57 games with AHL Milwaukee in 2021–22. The Predators originally selected Mismash in the second round (No. 61 overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft.
After acquiring McDonagh, the Predators now have seven defensemen with NHL experience under contract for next season: Roman Josi, McDonagh, Mattias Ekholm, Dante Fabbro, Jeremy Lauzon, Mark Borowiecki, and Alexandre Carrier.
In 783 career regular-season games with the Rangers and Lightning, McDonagh has 71 goals and 337 points.
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