The Teardown And Rebuild Begins

With free agency looming and the NHL Entry Draft coming up this week, teams already know that changes are going to happen as players decide where they want to play next season while teams make decisions on who to keep and who to let go. Annually, teams make tough decisions on some players as they retool and tinker for future runs at Stanley Cup glory. It's not surprising, though, to see teams being forced to make deals in order to be cap compliant once the NHL season begins, and it seems that the Tampa Bay Lightning are getting ahead of that problem by moving highly-priced defender Ryan McDonagh today to the Nashville Predators.

Officially, Ryan McDonagh was traded to Nashville after waiving his no-trade clause in exchange for defender Philippe Myers and winger Grant Mismash. It seems likely that Mismash will likely start the season in Syracuse while Myers will look to finally fulfill his potential as an NHL defender on the Tampa Bay blue line.

McDonagh was a prized defender in Jon Cooper's system for his shot-blocking ability, something we saw him do time and again when he was deployed on the ice. The trade, though, seemed to have been a decision made by GM Julien BriseBois when it came to his roster and finding some future flexibility when deciding who was the player to deal to Nashville.

"Considering each player's age, position and contract," BriseBois stated, "I came to the conclusion that Ryan was the odd man out."

It should be no surprise that the Lightning have reached the same stage as many teams before them. Credit goes to Julien BriseBois for keeping as much of the core that won back-to-back Stanley Cups intact, but it was inevitable that players will eventually want more money in correlation to all the success the Lightning have had. BriseBois lost his entire third line one season ago only to rebuild a new third line and go on another run this season.

That aside, the Lightning blue line was always a strength with the likes of Hedman, Sergachev, and McDonagh patrolling the defensive zone, but BriseBois needed to pay other players to stick around for another run. That made the $6.25 million AAV that Ryan McDonagh was earning a little less palatable when one considers his four goals and 26 points last season. Combine that with McDonagh's age - he's 32 - and the four additional years of his contract at that AAV, and BriseBois saw a chance to buy back some flexibility when it comes to signing important players like Ondrej Palat and Jan Rutta this summer as well as Anthony Cirelli, Alex Killorn, Mikhail Sergachev, and Colton Ross next year.

If there's one player who could likely step into McDonagh's role in Tampa Bay, it would appear that Erik Cernak might be that guy as he showed a willingness to block shots, play hard on special teams, and he scored 13 points this season. Yes, that's just half of what McDonagh scored this past season, but increased time-on-ice and an increased role with the team should see his point total increase. And he's just 24 while earning $2.95 million - less than half of what McDonagh was making.

Nashville, it should be noted, gets a player they can use on their first pairing with Roman Josi thanks to McDonagh's defensive awareness or a player who can elevate Mattias Ekholm's game once more on a pairing. While he may be more expensive than what GM David Poile wants to pay for a player like that, there's no doubt that McDonagh can be a difference-maker on the Nashville blue line if head coach John Hynes can squeeze a few more years out of the rearguard.

"When Nashville showed interest," McDonagh said, "it was right away a big point for me to realize that this group is competitive and has all the pieces that I believe you need to win a Cup. You look through their lineup and they've got all the pieces and great character guys, guys that have been in the league that have a lot of experience, mixed in with some young guys, too, and a great coaching staff."

I don't think Nashville is going to complain too much about Tampa Bay's cap compliance problem when they can acquire a defender like Ryan McDonagh. For Tampa Bay, they're forced to give up a key piece of their blue line to keep other pieces in place, and that should allow them to take a long look at their own depth chart to see if they can replace McDonagh's contributions with one player or perhaps several players in aggregate.

Regardless of how Tampa solves their problem, the first step was already taken as McDonagh is now a member of the Nashville Predators as the Central Division just got a little better with that addition as the Predators retool for a playoff next season. Tampa Bay will still be good without McDonagh on their blue line, but Julien BriseBois will go back to the drawing board and see if he can be replaced in some fashion for a potential fourth-straight Stanley Cup Final appearance.

If there's one thing that's certain in the salary cap era of the NHL, it's that every roster is fluid and change is inevitable.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!