Former Rangers captain still trucking, lands 3-year extension with Lightning
Ryan McDonagh apparently doesn’t even need to be in the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup to keep his career trucking along. The former New York Rangers captain, who’s currently on injured reserve, signed a three-year, $12.3 million contract extension with the Lightning on Thursday.
The $4.1 million AAV deal kicks in next season and carries through McDonagh’s age-39 season in 2028-29. The veteran defenseman is due back soon for the Lightning, after he sustained an unspecified injury blocking a shot against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 8.
This month-long injury absence is a blip on the radar for the ultra-reliable defenseman. McDonagh played all 82 games last season for the Lightning, and 1,025 in the NHL since debuting with the Rangers on Jan. 7, 2011. In that time, he’s averaged 22:32 TOI and owns a cumulative plus-290 rating, that is best among all active NHL defensemen. Not once in 15 NHL seasons did McDonagh finish with a negative plus/minus rating.
Known throughout his career to be an absolute warrior, McDonagh’s blocked over 2,000 shots in the NHL (2,037), third most among active defensemen and third all-time among United States-born players.
“Mac Truck” helped the Lightning win consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021 and reach the 2022 Cup Final, where they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in six games. In 196 postseason games, McDonagh averaged 24:16 TOI and totaled 68 points (12 goals, 56 assists).
With the Lightning (16-8-2) currently leading the Atlantic Division, it appears likely McDonagh will surpass 200 career Stanley Cup Playoffs games this coming spring. Even without McDonagh nor fellow defense stalwart Victor Hedman in the lineup, the Lightning manhandled the Rangers 4-1 this past Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Ryan McDonagh part of best, worst trades in Rangers history
McDonagh’s history with the Rangers is bittersweet. His acquisition in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on June 30, 2009, goes down as one of the best deals in Rangers history. They surrendered underachieving veteran center Scott Gomez, along with Tom Pyatt and Michael Busto, for McDonagh, and forward Chris Higgins and Pavel Valentenko.
This was a coup for Glen Sather, then the Rangers general manager, an absolute steal. McDonagh became a force on New York’s blue line, a foundational piece of John Tortorella’s Black and Blueshirts. And when Alain Vigneault replaced Tortorella as coach, McDonagh helped the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2014, became team captain the following season, and appeared in consecutive NHL All-Star Games in 2016 and 2017.
However, he was the centerpiece of one of the worst trades of Jeff Gorton’s tenure as Rangers GM on Feb. 26, 2018. As the Rangers started to rebuild, they traded McDonagh and J.T. Miller for three players who never amounted to much of anything on Broadway (center Brett Howden was the best of the group for them) and two draft picks, one of which ended up being first-rounder Nils Lundqvist, who never did much in New York and is now with the Dallas Stars.
Interestingly, that trade tree did ultimately produce Noah Laba, though only after the Rangers swapped Howden to the Vegas Golden Knights and acquired a 2022 fourth-round selection and used it to pick the center.
McDonagh, who also played briefly with the Nashville Predators before a second tour of duty with the Lightning, remains largely beloved by Rangers fans. And deservedly so. Even if his biggest successes came off-Broadway in Tampa.
