TB mascot surprises McDonagh kids

ThunderBug is buzzing with excitement to have the McDonagh family back in Florida.

The Tampa Bay Lightning mascot created a special video for Ryan McDonagh’s three kids to welcome them back to the city after their dad was traded back to his old team on Tuesday.

A video of Falan, Murphy and Nola McDonagh watching ThunderBug’s surprise was posted by the Lightning on social media.

In the clip, the mascot runs, hops and stumbles around Amalie Arena before holding up a sign that says, “Welcome back to Tampa Bay Falan, Murphy and Nola.”

All three kids were thrilled to see their old friend and ended the video appropriately jumping on top of each other from the excitement.

The veteran defenseman was traded back to the Lightning from the Nashville Predators in exchange for future draft picks. McDonagh previously played five seasons with Tampa from 2018-22, winning back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2020 and 2021. He spent the last two seasons in Nashville.