Predators acquire Ryan McDonagh from Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators made a July 4 deal prior to the 2022 National Hockey League Entry Draft. The Lightning acquired defenseman Philippe Myers and left wing prospect Grant Mismash, while the Predators acquired defenseman Ryan McDonagh.

Ryan McDonagh

This will be the third NHL team that McDonagh has played for. He was previously with the New York Rangers for eight seasons from 2010 to 2018, and the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2018 to 2022, where he wa a two-time Stanley Cup champion in 2020 and 2021. In 71 games for the Lightning this past season, McDonagh had four goals and 22 assists for 26 points. He was a +15 with 16 penalty minutes, one power-play point, 85 shots on goal, 137 blocked shots, 96 hits, 26 takeaways and 24 giveaways.

McDonagh’s lone power-play point was a power-play assist on a goal by Corey Perry in a 7-1 Lightning win over the Philadelphia Flyers on December 5, 2021. It was the 56th power-play assist in McDonagh’s career.

From a career perspective, McDonagh has 71 goals and 226 assists for 337 points in 783 games. He is a +215 with 304 penalty minutes, 65 power-play points, 17 shorthanded points, 11 game-winning goals, 1271 shots on goal, two faceoff wins, 1555 blocked shots, 956 hits, 409 takeaways and 545 giveaways.

This past season was only the third year in McDonagh’s 12-year NHL career that he had more takeaways than giveaways. McDonagh had 18 takeaways and 11 giveaways in his rookie season with the Rangers in 2010-11, then had 27 takeaways and 26 giveaways with the Rangers in 2012-13.

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, McDonagh is 33 years old. He was the Montreal Canadiens’s first round pick, 12th overall, in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

This was the third time in McDonagh’s career he was traded. He was initially dealt by the Montreal Canadiens to the Rangers on June 30, 2009 before he played a NHL game. Then on February 26, 2018, McDonagh was traded by the Rangers to the Lightning.

Philippe Myers

The native of Moncton, New Brunswick was undrafted prior to being signed by the Philadelphia Flyers on September 21, 2015. Myers is definitely a defenseman on the rise, and has won the silver medal for Canada at the 2017 World Junior Hockey Championship in Montreal, Quebec, and the 2019 World Men’s Hockey Championship in Slovakia. So far in his NHL career, Myers played three seasons for the Flyers and one season for the Predators.

This past year, Myers had one goal and three assists for four points in 27 games. He was a +5 with 12 penalty minutes, 28 shots on goal, 17 blocked shots, 50 hits, eight takeaways and 17 giveaways. Myers’s lone goal this past season came in the last game Myers played with the Predators in 2021-22–a 5-4 Predators loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on St. Patrick’s Day.

Myers’s time with Nashville seemed to be in jeopardy when he was put on waivers, and then cleared waivers on March 23, 2022. Myers was then loaned to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

Grant Mismash

Like McDonagh, Mismash is from the state of Minnesota, as he was born in Edina. He was the Predators’ second round draft pick, 61st overall, in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. This past year Mismash had six goals and six assists for 12 points in 57 games with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League.