Ryan McDonagh and his agent speak up about the unexpected trade

"All of a sudden, to be told, 'You're not coming back, it's a business decision, we can't have you back,' it's hard for him to accept that," said Hankinson. "There's the emotional connection and the business side of it. It took what seemed like forever, only three or four days, but they wanted to move forward. He's heard from every single member of the (Lightning team). Crushing."

"I think it took a couple days to realize what to do," Hankinson said. "Do you fight it and figure out a way to stay? Which he wanted to do. But, realistically, it didn't happen. And it's not always by the player's choice. The good news is that Ryan is motivated and in a great spot right now. It wasn't his choice. But given the circumstances, we found a good spot.»

"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," BriseBois said. "Because I would have been ecstatic to know that I had him under contract for four more years."