Julien BriseBois wanted to explain his plan to Ryan McDonagh in person, laying out exactly why he was asking the veteran defenseman to waive his no-trade clause.
After one of the most difficult conversations in his tenure as general manager, BriseBois made perhaps his toughest move yet during the Tampa Bay Lightning’s run of success by trading a prominent member of two Stanley Cup championship teams in an effort to win it again in the coming years.
The Lightning sent McDonagh to the Nashville Predators on Sunday for younger defenseman Philippe Myers and forward prospect Grant Mismash, clearing significant salary cap space to make more moves this offseason and setting up Tampa Bay to keep younger core players around for the long term.
After previously forecasting his team’s championship window lasting through only next season, BriseBois moving McDonagh has changed the roster game for the NHL’s most successful franchise over the past five years.
“It allows us to make sure we can make sure we extend it beyond one season,” BriseBois said. “We’ve freed up some cap space for this year, 2022-23, but more importantly we freed up some cap space for 2023-24 and beyond, which I hope will allow us to secure the rights to Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergechev and Erik Cernak for years to come.”