Predators Send Ryan McDonagh Back to Tampa Bay in Unexpected Trade

In a move that few – if any – saw coming, Ryan McDonagh is heading home.

Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz announced today that the team has traded the veteran defenseman and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft (acquired via trade from the Edmonton Oilers last season) to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

McDonagh was traded to Nashville by Tampa Bay for Philippe Myers and Grant Mismash on July 3, 2022. He has two seasons remaining on a seven-year, $47.25 million contract ($6.75 million AAV) he signed with the Tampa Bay on July 1, 2018.

McDonagh, 34, played in 74 games with the Predators last season, recording three goals and 32 points to rank second among Nashville defensemen. McDonagh led the Predators with a plus-19 rating and ranked second among all Nashville skaters in blocked shots (139) and average time on ice (21:47) in 2023-24. He averaged over five blocked shots per 60 minutes (5.17) for the 12th time in his career.

McDonagh has played 14 seasons in the NHL between the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay and Nashville. He has appeared in 928 NHL games, recording 76 goals and 389 points with a plus-246 rating. McDonagh was a Stanley Cup Champion with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021, tallying one goal and 13 points during those playoff runs.

"This trade adds to our already deep corps of draft picks over the next two NHL Drafts and allows us to continue to make tweaks and improvements to our team during the offseason," Trotz said in a statement . "We want to make decisions that help us build on the success we had in the 2023-24 season by giving us as many weapons as we can get, whether it’s younger players on our roster, more impactful draft choices or salary cap flexibility.”

The Predators now have nine picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, which is scheduled from June 28-29 at the Sphere in Las Vegas – three in the second round, two each in the third and fourth rounds and one in each of the first round and seventh rounds. Nashville also has nine picks in the 2025 NHL Draft – two in the first, second and third rounds and one each in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds.

In addition to adding more draft capital, the trade also creates nearly $7 million in cap space for the Predators on top of the more than $19 million in cap space they alreadt had for the 2024-25 season. Trotz is likely to use that money to accomplish his previously stated goal of getting younger at forward; Nashville's first-round series loss to the Vancouver Canucks, however, may have also heightened the urgency for Trotz to add some more size on defense.

The Predators already have a number of options to fill McDonagh's roster spot, including Spencer Stastney, who also plays on the left side. They also have highly touted prospects Tanner Molendyk and Ryan Ufko in the pipeline, who could be close to making the leap to the NHL. Re-signing free agent Alexandre Carrier still seems unlikely, as the Predators are likely looking to add more size and neither he nor Stastney can realistically be a one-for-one replacement for McDonagh.

In the meantime, expect this trade to be a precursor to at least one other big offseason move for Nashville. In addition to his aggressive pursuit of high-end scoring and big bodies on the back end, Trotz also has some unrestricted free agents to consider re-signing – not to mention the looming possibility of a contract extension for goaltender Juuse Saros.