Predators Add To Draft Capital With Ryan McDonagh Trade

The Nashville Predators traded defenseman Ryan McDonagh back to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team announced on Tuesday, clearing $6.75 million in cap space ahead of the 2024 season per PuckPedia.

The Predators acquired the Lightning’s 2025 second-round pick and their 2024 seventh-rounder in exchange for McDonagh and a 2024 fourth-round pick that originally belonged to the Edmonton Oilers.

Nashville now has nine picks in the 2024 draft, all in the first four rounds, plus seven picks over the next two drafts in the first two rounds.

“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,” GM Barry Trotz said in a release. “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.”

McDonagh spent over four seasons with the Lightning, from 2017 through 2021. Tampa Bay won back-to-back Stanley Cups in his time with the team.

The Predators traded for McDonagh prior to the 2022-23 season. In two seasons with Nashville, he appeared in 145 regular-season games, tallying five goals and 52 points with a +31 rating while averaging 21:39 minutes of ice time per game.

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