The Tampa Bay Lightning switched veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators on Sunday, leaving a significant salary cap space to make more moves this offseason.
They received defender Philippe Myers and striker Grant Mismash in the deal. Exchanging McDonagh’s $ 6.75 million maximum for Myers ’2.55 million could allow Eastern Conference champions to reclaim the top left and star of playoffs Ondrej Palat.
Tampa Bay could also now have the space to reclaim defender Jan Rutta, who as a palate was to be a free agent when the market opens on July 13th.
McDonagh, 33, was a key part of Tampa Bay winning the Stanley Cup in 2020 and ’21 and reaching the final last season. He has a four-year contract and offers the Predators another experienced player on the blue line who has reached the playoffs in each of his 12 seasons in the NHL.
Myers has been switched to consecutive low season after going from Philadelphia to Nashville last summer in the deal that sent defender Ryan Ellis to the Flyers. The 25-year-old becomes Tampa Bay’s latest value rehabilitation project after fighting so much last season that the Predators put him on exemption and ceded him to Toronto’s major minor league subsidiary.
___
Follow AP hockey writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at
___
More NHL AP: i