Rangers’ McDonagh goes to Tampa Bay
The Tampa Bay Lightning strengthened their first-place team by acquiring New York Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh.
The Rangers spurred their franchise overhaul by adding yet another first-round draft pick in consecutive days.
And Senators captain Erik Karlsson is staying in Ottawa for the remainder of the season after the league’s trade deadline passed Monday afternoon.
The Lightning struck among the most significant deals by adding McDonagh, 28, to a lineup already well-stocked with elite defensemen. Tampa Bay also acquired left wing J.T. Miller, a two-time 20-goal scorer.
The Rangers acquired three players, including forward Vladislav Namestnikov, plus a first-round pick in this year’s draft and a conditional firstrounder in 2019.
The deal came a day after New York landed two draft picks, including a first-rounder, and three players in trading forward Rick Nash to the Bruins.
The Senators were unable to move Karlsson, a two-time Norris Trophy winner, who will make $7.5 million in the final year of his contract.
General manager Pierre Dorion acknowledged fielding offers on every player over the past few months. When it came to Karlsson, Dorion says there was no “franchise deal out there” for his franchise player.
The day was otherwise dominated by a series of moves involving four of seven Central Division teams.
Winnipeg gave up a firstround draft pick as part of a trade to acquire six-time 20goal-scoring forward Paul Stastny in a trade with St. Louis.
Stastny, 32, had 12 goals and 28 assists in 63 games this season with the Blues. He’s the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Stastny and joins a Winnipeg team that’s second in the Central Division, two points behind Nashville.
The Predators also gave up a first-round pick as part of a deal to land forward Ryan Hartman from Chicago.
And the expansion Vegas Golden Knights added to their Western Conference-leading team by acquiring three-time 20-goal-scoring forward Tomas Tatar from Detroit. The Red Wings added three draft picks, including a first-round selection.
Edmonton traded forward Patrick Maroon to the Devils for a 2019 third-round pick and prospect J.D. Dudek.
Pittsburgh acquired forward Josh Jooris from Carolina in exchange for center Greg McKegg.