Nashville Predators: Grading Every Major Move in 2022 Offseason
Predators Take Advantage of Salary Cap Dump by getting McDonagh from Bolts
This is where the fun truly begins. Poile’s first major move this offseason was sending Philippe Myers and Grant Mismash to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
It goes without saying that the Predators have to be extremely pleased about acquiring McDonagh for virtually nothing. The Lightning were cap-strapped and essentially had no choice but to make this move, and the Predators were able to bring in a guy who is known as a leader and is a very good shutdown defenseman.
McDonagh will improve the team at even strength and play critical minutes on the penalty kill as well.
It is even better for the team that he waived his no-trade clause to make this trade happen, which is a great sign considering how many teams would have killed for a player like him for essentially no cost.
McDonagh’s agent was apparently the first one to reach out to Poile about making this trade happen, and if that is true, it speaks volumes about how people view the Nashville Predators as an organization to come to if you want to have success.
#Preds GM David Poile on @1025TheGame - the Ryan McDonagh trade discussion started with a call from McDonagh's agent. The team was not previously considering him.
— Boyd (@Boyd_1212) July 12, 2022
McDonagh unfortunately has a contract that is far from ideal, but again, when you can get a player of his caliber for essentially nothing, you cannot be too upset over it. And considering the impact that he should have in the locker room, making this move was a job well done by Poile.