The 2024-25 season for Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh has been about toughness, a homecoming of sorts and career milestones only reached by those willing to put the team before themselves time and time again.
The Tampa Bay chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) added to a season of honors for McDonagh on Wednesday, announcing the 35-year-old defenseman as their 2025 nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
Writers from all 32 NHL cities nominate one local player for the award, given each season to the NHL player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
“It’s a huge honor,” McDonagh said of his nomination. “Past winners and past team representatives are all great players in this league and have great stories.”
“I'm just trying to be myself each and every day and carry a good attitude and be someone the guys can trust and rely on and hopefully inspire to be better themselves,” McDonagh continued. “And that's all you can really do each and every day is try to be the best version of yourself and hope it leads people around you to want to be better.”
The defenseman is back in Tampa Bay after helping the Lightning win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021, and his return has been felt in the Lightning locker room this season.
McDonagh leads the NHL in plus-minus with his +42 rating and scored his 30th point of the season on Monday. He has played in all 77 games for the Lightning and hit two major milestones this season.
McDonagh played in his 1,000th NHL game on March 27, when multiple teammates used the word “warrior” to describe the hockey veteran.
Also this season, McDonagh became the eighth player in NHL history to reach 2,000 career blocked shots and is two blocks from tying Duncan Keith for the seventh-most blocked shots all-time.
“It’s hard not to appreciate Mac,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Wednesday, adding that while he might not be a Norris Trophy candidate, McDonagh deserves the recognition.
“I’m a big believer there should be another award for the best defensive defenseman out there. It’s a player that every single coach would stand right here and crave. All the teams look for guys like that, and Ryan’s at the top of the list of being that kind of player for the past decade.”
The winner of the award is selected through a PHWA poll and will be announced at the NHL Awards show in June.
