The Tampa Bay Lightning have come to terms with veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh on a three-year contract extension worth a total of $12.3 million, meaning he'll carry a salary cap hit of $4.1 million over the following three seasons.
McDonagh is currently in the final season of his contract with a salary cap hit of $6.75 million, meaning that his upcoming contract will be a considerable decrease in pay.
For the Lightning, it was the final step in the process that began, as general manager Julien BriseBois explained, with a call to McDonagh's agent to discuss the future.
“I met with Mac a couple of weeks ago. We weren’t discussing his contract, we were talking about the team, his future, and how he saw things,” BriseBois said, via NHL.com. “Through that conversation, I got the sense that we might be able to work something out.”
“When he got hurt, I said, ‘You know what? This is a good time,’” BriseBois continued. “He’s hurt anyway so it’s not like it’s going to be a distraction. I don’t think it’s going to take very long. I don’t want him to wait longer than he has to. It was never about that. So I called his agent just to kind of feel him out, and rather quickly, we were able to come to an agreement.”
So far this season, McDonagh ranks third among Lightning defenseman in total ice time per game with 20:09, and he's scored three goals while adding three assists. He also has a plus-one rating, and has spent literally zero minutes in the penalty box.
However, an injury has kept him off the ice since early last month.
Ryan McDonagh is in his second tenure with the Lightning
McDonagh was initially selected by the Montreal Canadiens in 2007 in the opening round (12th overall), but would be traded to the New York Rangers in the Scott Gomez deal, a move that continues to haunt Canadiens fans to this day.
McDonagh became one of New York's best defensemen, and was even later named team captain before his time with the franchise ended when he was sent to the Lightning in February 2018 with J.T. Miller for Libor Hájek, Brett Howden, Vladislav Namestnikov, a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL entry draft, and a conditional second-round pick in the 2019 NHL entry draft.
With Tampa Bay, McDonagh would play a critical role in their Stanley Cup victories of 2020 and 2021, as well as their third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2022 that fell just short of a three-peat. He was then traded to the Nashville Predators in 2022 for Philippe Myers and forward Grant Mismash, where he played until he returned to the Lightning via trade in May 2024 for second-round pick in 2025 and a seventh-round pick in 2024.
The St. Paul, Minnesota native has skated in 1,025 career NHL games and has scored 83 goals with 343 assists, while adding another 12 goals and 56 assists in 196 career postseason games.
Tampa Bay Lightning grade: B
For the Lightning, this represents a necessary move to keep one of the club's top veteran defenders in place for the next three seasons. Typically paired with Erik Cernak, McDonagh has no problem facing the opposition's top players and also plays a vital role on Tampa Bay's penalty killing. The two-time Stanley Cup experience certainly doesn't hurt things, either.
However, one concern of note is McDonagh's durability. As previously mentioned, he hasn't played in nearly a month because of an injury, and there hasn't been much information in terms of when he could potentially return.
He missed 10 games each in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 NHL seasons, but he appeared in all 82 regular season games in 2024-25. The Lightning will have to hope that McDonagh can return to the blue line soon.
Ryan McDonagh grade: A
This works out perfectly for McDonagh, as he managed to land a contract that will ensure that he's paid through 2029. This will also almost certainly be his final NHL contract, as he'll be 40 years old when this one comes to a close.
By the time the upcoming contract expires, McDonagh will have earned nearly $91 million — not a bad living for the stalwart defender.
