Predators McDonagh Stepping Up as Lightning Comes to Town

McDonagh also made contributions on the ice, as he posted 99 points with 20 goals and 79 assists, 529 blocks, and a plus-74 rating in 267 regular-season games in Tampa Bay. He was the Lightning’s top shot blocker and the backbone of the top penalty-kill unit. The St. Paul, Minnesota, native had the third-most ice time on the team, averaging 22 minutes and 27 seconds a game in 2021-22. If you did not think he was a gutsy player, he also played the entire playoffs with a mangled finger.

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It makes sense when Lightning general manager Julien Brisebois said, “If we didn’t live in a flat salary-cap world, it would never have crossed my mind to ask Ryan McDonagh to waive his no-trade clause.” This explains why the Lightning would trade a player with four years remaining on his contract, especially a player who had so much of an impact on a very successful team.

McDonagh Overcomes Early Struggles

Early in the season, the Predators struggled to find cohesive lines on both offense and defense that would play well together. For McDonagh, that meant pairings with Mattias Ekholm and then with Jeremy Lauzon. Neither of these pairings seemed to work as the defense, and the rest of the team struggled, going 3-6-1 in their first 10 games. The lack of chemistry led to poor positioning and undisciplined play. This has led to issues such as taking too many penalties, leading to the Predators uncharacteristically surrendering seven power-play goals during this stretch.

However, a recent change has seen McDonagh starting to perform as he did in Tampa Bay. Head coach John Hynes has started to put the former New York Ranger with Roman Josi on the first defensive group. In Thursday night’s (Nov. 17) 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders, McDonagh was instrumental in helping teammate Roman Josi net four assists. After the game, Hynes commented on the new pairing. “I thought it was McDonagh’s best game that he’s been here. It looks like he and Roman have some good chemistry together. He set up Roman at least 4 or 5 times in the offensive zone.”

Josi also agreed with his head coach’s comments. “He’s such a great player. I mean, just from playing against him for so many years, and he’s unbelievably defensively. He’s got a great hockey sense,” Josi said after the Islanders game. “I mean, there’s a reason he’s won two Stanley Cups. He’s an amazing player, and it was a lot of fun to play with him.” This new pairing has sparked not only all of the defensive pairings but also the entire team.

Smashville hopes that McDonagh will continue to thrive playing with Josi against his former team, which will be the 801st game of his NHL career. Even with the McDonagh facing his former team storyline, the most important aspect of this game is actually how two playoff-caliber teams will play as they attempt to make the 2023 Playoffs and how the experienced veteran can help make that happen for his new team.