Before the New York Rangers sold off some prime assets in 2018 and before the Boston Bruins acquired Rick Nash for what wound up a two-round playoff run, Rink Rap was of the opinion that Ryan McDonagh would have been the right acquisition at the time.
Forget the horribly unjust end of Nash’s career via concussion – this has nothing to do with that.
The belief here was always that – say what you will about the 2015 draft, I think that’s way overblown – letting McDonagh come into the Atlantic Division and to a rival such as the Tampa Bay Lightning gave the Bolts the finishing touch to the Big Three they needed around Andrei Vasilevsky. The result was that, before Bruins fans learned to hate the Florida Panthers, the Lightning were their daddy.
After eliminating the Bruins in the second round of the 2018 playoffs, Tampa Bay put up a crazy good record in 2018-19 only to get swept by Columbus, opening a path for the Bruins to come to within one home-ice win of another Stanley Cup championship. Covid canceled a sequel-season Presidents Trophy effort, and the Lightning, without Victor Hedman when the 2019 playoffs would have commenced on schedule, cleaned up three months later with victory in the NHL’s shameless, beach-blanket-bubble-fort tournament of 2020, then proved for real that they were the best team in the NHL by rolling to the 2021 championship. The Nikita Kucherov LTIR controversy was proven to be nothing more than innovation, a strategy that has since become too popular for the league’s liking (thusly, a playoff salary cap). But from this seat, the Bolts were deserving in 2021 and in 2022, when their banged-up lineup forced a sixth game against the ultimate champion Colorado.
“To come back to such a special place that is Tampa, the success that we’ve had is engrained in you for the rest of your life,” said the 35-year-old McDonagh, who whom the Lightning would trade after that 2021-22 campaign to Nashville before reacquiring him two years later. “The relationships that you made are so important to you, a special place for your kids, your family, and so it’s been awesome. I’ve been just trying to seize the opportunity and add to what is already a successful organization.”
GM Julien Brisbois’ effort to get the band back together as a possible answer to being eclipsed by GM Bill Zito in Florida has also included the return of pesky center Yanni Gourde, whom the Lightning has lost to the expansion Seattle Kraken.
Having gone to the mattresses with the Panthers in the preseason, the Lightning are quietly knocking their season out of the park, but how seriously should we take yesterday’s news? After a 102-point season in 2024-25, the Lightning were dismissed by the Panthers in the opening round of the 2025 playoffs in five games. The defeat landed with a thud.
Florida, playing the entire season without the great Sasha Barkov and more than half of the schedule without Matthew Tkachuk, is in danger of missing the 2026 playoffs, leaving their more-legitimate three-year Stanley Cup finals streak in jeopardy. Even without the Panthers in the way, the Lightning have many hurdles ahead. The question is why it seems to be coming together for them even more so now, as core players age.
Coming into tonight’s Stadium Series game against the Bruins, the Lightning are on pace for 113 points, a pace only exceeded by Colorado’s.
“A season ago we had a lot of big changes, some iconic players (Steve Stamkos among them) switched out. (It was a) tougher team to deal with an organize, and I think our group – like I said – it’s a lot of the same guys, and we added some youth here now. It’s just been a great group, and everybody really pulling for one another, buying into the system and having to handle adversity of injuries and the tough schedule, things that you can use as excuses, but our group goes out and plays with heart,” said McDonagh.
The mainstay, Coach Jon Cooper, has maintained his team’s attention long after most coaches would have lost the room.
“He’s honest with you, you can trust what he says,” said McDonagh, noting that Cooper has that rare skill of being able to walk the fine line between friend and taskmaster. “He really cares about every one of us, and it shows.”
Once upon a time, McDonagh would have made an excellent bridge between an aging Zdeno Chara and a very young Charlie McAvoy. Today, he’s a second-time-around member of the Lightning with an eye on trying to get his team back on top of the NHL.
Oh, by the way, McDonagh comes into tonight’s contest 5-0 in outdoor games.
Rink Rap with Mick Colageo 