The Tampa Bay Lightning made several moves this past off-season after a quick playoff exit. One of their most notable moves was reacquiring defenseman Ryan McDonagh from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick and a 2024 seventh-round pick.
The Lightning's decision to bring back McDonagh was an easy one to understand. It was no secret that they missed the 35-year-old’s steady defensive play on their blueline when he was with the Predators. Thus, it makes sense that they worked hard to get him, and it’s move that has, without a doubt, benefited the Lightning greatly since.
McDonagh once again proved to be an incredible part of the Lightning’s top four and penalty kill this regular-season. In 82 games with the Bolts on the year, he recorded four goals, 27 assists, 31 points, and an NHL-best plus-43 rating. With numbers like these, McDonagh was not only remarkably dependable defensively but also chipped in a decent amount of offense in the process.
With all of this, McDonagh played a major role in the Lightning finishing the season with a solid 47-27-8 record and securing the second-place spot in the Atlantic Division standings. They also did not need to pay a significant price to get him back to Tampa, so it is hard not to love this move for the Bolts.
McDonagh will now look to carry over his impressive regular-season play over to the post-season from here. If he continues to play so well during the playoffs, it will certainly help the Lightning’s chances of going on a big run this spring. We will need to wait and see what happens on that front from here.
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