Tampa Bay Lightning GM upset he needed to trade Ryan McDonagh - Blames NHL

A few days ago the Tampa Bay Lightning apparently asked Ryan McDonagh who he would be willing to accept a trade to.

The 33 year old still has 4 years remaining on a contract with a cap hit of $6,750,000, but still has a lot of miles left on those tires.

Yesterday McDonagh was traded to the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenseman Philippe Myers and forward Grant Mismash.

Lightning's GM Julien Brisebois wasn't happy with needing to ship out one of his star defenceman though, and even takes a shot at Gary Bettman and the NHL in the process per Joe Smith of The Athletic:

Julien BriseBois: "If we didn't live in a flat salary cap world, it would never have crossed my mind to ask Ryan McDonagh to waive his no-trade clause because I would have been ecstatic to know that I had him under contract for four more years."— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) July 3, 2022

Since COVID the salary cap has remained flat, and most General Managers are probably fed up with it, especially since the NHL is making more money now than before COVID.

With the loss of such an established well-rounded blueliner, will the Lightning be as dominant next season as they have been the past 3 years?

ryan mcdonagh got traded? Hope he enjoys Nashville pic.twitter.com/BUsESRmcz7— john (@MarioJo76122006) July 3, 2022