Without much preamble, I’m going to say that right now, the New York Rangers received a fair return for Ryan McDonagh.
However, the question “was the return for Ryan McDonagh fair?” is a more nuanced question that deserves a more nuanced answer.
First, the trade that sent McDonagh to Tampa also included J.T. Miller as well. The return from the Lightning must take this into consideration as well.
As many have argued, one could divide the trade into two transactions. The first is J.T. Miller for Vladislav Namestnikov one-for-one, and the package of picks and prospects for McDonagh, the other.