Tampa Bay Lightning Bring Back Familiar Face in Trade

The Tampa Bay Lightning wasted no time in making some changes to their roster. After being eliminated in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Florida Panthers, they have gotten to work.

On Tuesday, they completed a trade to bring back a familiar face. According to Kristen Shilton of ESPN, Tampa Bay is acquiring defenseman Ryan McDonagh from the Nashville Predators. The Lightning will be sending two draft picks, a 2025 second-rounder and a 2024 seventh-rounder, to Nashville in exchange for McDonagh and a 2024 fourth-round pick via the Edmonton Oilers.

This will be McDonagh’s second stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was originally acquired by the team from the New York Rangers ahead of the 2018 NHL trade deadline. That was a big trade that also included J.T. Miller.

McDonagh spent 4.5 seasons with the Lightning before he was traded to the Predators in the 2022 offseason. Tampa Bay didn’t trade him because of a lack of production, but as a salary dump as they need to clear some money off their books.

It certainly wasn’t a move that the Tampa Bay Lightning wanted to make, as McDonagh was integral to their postseason success. They won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021 before losing in the 2022 finals to the Colorado Avalanche.

With the Predators, he continued playing at a high level. He was a key piece of their defensive rotation, averaging nearly 24 minutes of ice time per night in their first-round series against the Vancouver Canucks in this year’s postseason.

This time, it was Nashville who needed to clear cap space and Tampa Bay was willing to take McDonagh back. Moving him frees up $6.75 million for the Predators and provides the Lightning with a reliable defenseman they know well.