Nashville Predators trade veteran defenceman Ryan McDonagh

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Cooper Godin
May 21, 2024 (10:22)

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The Stanley Cup Playoffs may still be going on, but we have a pretty big trade to share on Tuesday afternoon.

In a post on social media, the Nashville Predators announced that they've traded defenceman Ryan McDonagh and a 2024 fourth round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for second round pick in 2025 and a seventh round pick in 2024.

"We want to thank Ryan for all he meant to the Predators organization over the past two seasons, including serving as an alternate captain," Barry Trotz said. "His renowned leadership qualities and dedication to doing whatever it takes to win made an immediate impact on our team both on and off the ice. We wish Ryan and his family all the best as they return to the Lightning organization."

He added, "At the same time, 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. 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."

In order to go back to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he won a pair of Stanley Cups, McDonagh needed to waive his no-trade clause, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. In addition to that, the Nashville Predators will not retain any salary. McDonagh has two years remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $6.75 million per season.

"McDonagh had to waive his NTC to go back to Tampa. There is no salary retention by the Preds. McDonagh has a $6.75M cap hit and 2 more years on his deal."

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