The Tampa Bay Lightning know they’re close to glory, having been to one Stanley Cup final and three Eastern Conference finals in the past four seasons, and they intend to remain the class of the East for years to come. They’ve signed defenseman Ryan McDonagh to be part of that ride long-term.
The Bolts announced a seven-year extension for McDonagh with a $6.75-million AAV Sunday. It kicks in for the 2019-20 season.
General manager Steve Yzerman emptied a major chunk of his prospect cupboard at the 2018 trade deadline, surrendering Libor Hajek, Brett Howden, a first-round pick, a conditional second-round pick and Vlad Namestnikov for McDonagh and J.T. Miller. It sent the message Yzerman had assembled a critical mass for years of cup contention and was comfortable giving away futures knowing he had so much depth and skill already at the NHL level. Now, in extending RFA Miller plus McDonagh, Yzerman further justifies the blockbuster trade, as McDonagh is no longer really a rental.
The extension makes enough sense in the short term. The Bolts have reigning Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman signed through 2024-25, and promising youngster Mikhail Sergachev is on the second year of his entry-level pact. But veterans Anton Stralman, Braydon Coburn and Dan Girardi are pending UFAs for summer 2019, so it was important for Yzerman to add stability around Hedman and Sergachev. And we know McDonagh brings that. He’s a true two-way defender and fluid skater who can play monster minutes – and, on a deep Bolts team, he isn’t even typically asked to do that, having averaged a mere 21 in the regular season and 22 in the playoffs with them. He’ll always play on the top two pairings, he’ll kill penalties, and he has enough offensive acumen to log second-unit power play duty if needed. He’s one of the league’s better shot blockers, too.
The contract pays him through 2025-26, and he should justify the price tag for a few seasons. Because he’s a good skater, he should age relatively well. But the contract doesn’t kick in until McDonagh’s 30, and he’ll be almost 37 by the time it finishes. Given McDonagh plays a taxing style, taking punishment to battle other teams' top attackers, it’s tough to envision him still being a $6.75-million defenseman by the last couple years of this contract. It would be hyperbole to call him injury-prone, but he’s at least nick-and-scratch prone at this stage of his career. He missed 19 games with upper-body and abdominal injuries this past season. Hand, jaw, shoulder injuries and a concussion have cost him bits of time over the past several years. McDonagh has missed at least five games in each of the past five seasons. The very thing that makes him dear to his team – his willingness to sacrifice his body – also wears down his body.
Extending McDonagh also greatly decreases the odds of Tampa Bay pursuing Erik Karlsson in a trade, which has been rumored on and off. So while the McDonagh deal is generally good news for the team right now, it may be a deal that takes on water over the next half-decade or so.