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Ryan McDonagh asked Barry Trotz to trade him

 Michael Johnson
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Ryan McDonagh asked Barry Trotz to trade him
Credit: Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images

NHL news of the day: the Ryan McDonagh trade. It’s pretty rare to see a deal of this magnitude when teams are still in playoff action.

Both teams stand to benefit from such a transaction. On the one hand, it’s a return to Tampa Bay for the former Canadiens prospect, and on the Nashville side, the club frees up $6.75 million on the payroll. Matt Duchene’s contract buyout will hurt the Preds in 2024-2025.

Despite the McDonagh acquisition, Julien BriseBois confirmed that the Stamkos and defenseman files are not linked.

And Pierre LeBrun has just reported another very interesting piece of information.

Speaking to Hockey 360, the informant confirmed that the left-hander had asked his GM Barry Trotz to trade him.

So he wasn’t the happiest in the country town, and in order to join his former teammates in Tampa, he had to lift his no-trade clause.

LeBrun also revealed that the Lightning didn’t necessarily want to handcuff themselves to a long-term contract, via the free agent market. Several defensemen such as Noah Hanifin, who was in the team’s sights last March, Brandon Tanev and Brady Skjei are free agents, but long-term contracts were not in the plans of BriseBois.

The arrival of a well-known defenseman makes sense.

McDonagh has a big salary, yes, but it’s only for two years.

Now that the Lightning have their top-4 defenseman, will we see them among the league’s best like they were a few years ago? One thing’s for sure: with Steven Stamkos set to become a UFA in just over a month’s time, there’s still a lot of personnel movement going on in Florida.

I can’t wait to see how the Quebec GM works his magic.


In brief

– Juraj Slafkovsky has had enough of Prague.

– Lots of empty benches, too.

– Derrick White supports the LPHF.

– Oh well.

– Coming up.

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