The Tampa Bay Lightning reunited with Ryan McDonagh on Tuesday, but what does his salary cap hit mean for Steven Stamkos and their other pending UFAs?
The Tampa Bay Lightning brought back a familiar face on Tuesday, but it could be at the risk of another familiar face leaving.
GM Julien BriseBois acquired defenseman Ryan McDonagh and the Edmonton Oilers' fourth-round pick in 2024 from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Tampa Bay's 2025 second-round pick and a 2024 seventh-rounder.
McDonagh, 34, was part of the Tampa Bay Lightning from February 2018 until July 2022, when they traded him to Nashville. He patrolled the blueline during the Lightning's Stanley Cup championship runs in 2020 and 2021
The St. Paul, Minn., native heads back to Tampa Bay coming off a 32-point season with the Predators, his most in a campaign since 2018-19. He averaged 21:47 of ice time per game and ranked second on the Preds in blocked shots, with 139.
Reuniting with an NHL veteran with 928 career games played and 389 points gives the Lightning another boost of experience. But it does raise some questions, such as what it means for their salary cap situation heading into the summer and what's left of their draft picks for the next three years as they exited the playoffs in the first round for the second straight season.
Starting with the draft picks, the Lightning have five selections in 2024, with that fourth-rounder from Edmonton being their highest choice. They also have a fifth-rounder, sixth-rounder and two seventh-rounders.
In 2025, Their highest draft pick is now their third-rounder, and they have a pick in each subsequent round before having four seventh-rounders.
Tampa Bay still has its first- and second-round draft picks in 2026, as well as a pick in each round and an extra fourth-rounder. The Lightning received a C-minus grade for their prospect pool in The Hockey News' Future Watch 2024 issue, which ranked them 29th in the NHL.
Now, the salary cap situation.
McDonagh carries a $6.75-million cap hit for the next two seasons with no salary retention.
The Lightning have 19 of 23 active roster spaces filled for next season with a projected cap space of $4.14 million, according to PuckPedia. That's assuming the salary cap will increase to $87.675 million.
Tampa Bay also has eight pending UFAs, including trade deadline acquisitions Matt Dumba and Anthony Duclair, depth players Tyler Motte, Austin Watson and Calvin de Haan, and the most significant one of them all, captain Steven Stamkos.
Stamkos is coming off an eight-year contract with an $8.5-million cap hit. He had 64 points in 77 games in 2015-16 before signing the contract as a 26-year-old. Now, the 34-year-old had 81 points this season, 84 points the year prior and 106 points in 2021-22.
Defenseman Brent Seabrook, who was on long-term injured reserve with his $6.875-million cap hit, is also coming off the books this off-season. His cap hit contributed to an LTIR pool that the Lightning could use when they exceeded the salary cap. Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and his $8.5-million cap hit were also on LTIR, but he rejoined the team during the playoffs.
That means the Lightning will almost certainly have to trade a hefty contract or two if they want to re-sign Stamkos, let alone fill out their roster.
The countdown is on until July 1, when Stamkos becomes a UFA if he doesn't re-sign with the Lightning before then. But either way, they now have McDonagh to help out on the blueline in hopes their offense, starring Nikita Kucherov, can carry its weight on the way to the playoffs next season.
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