TAMPA, Fla. — Roster turnover is inevitable every hockey offseason, especially for a team annually pressed up against the salary cap like the Lightning.
But when you lose a rock in the locker room like Ryan McDonagh, one of the team’s top defensemen and unquestioned leaders, it doesn’t sit well even months later.
Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois would have preferred having McDonagh play out the length of his contract, but with the salary cap remaining the same the past three seasons and only going up $1 million this year, BriseBois had to take significant money off the books to be able to keep the veteran core intact and extend key young players. And McDonagh’s $6.75 million annual cap hit over the next four seasons became the salary to move in the early days of the offseason.
