The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenseman Philippe Myers and forward Grant Mismash, the franchise announced Sunday.

“He’s one of the best defenders in the NHL, he’s a selfless player and a great leader. I would like to thank him for everything he’s done for us,” Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois told reporters.

Tampa Bay’s decision to move McDonagh was largely to clear cap space, as the 33-year-old is under contract for four more seasons with an average annual salary of $6.8 million.

If the Lightning buy out the remainder of Myers’ contract, which has been speculated, they will have cleared more than $7.3 million in cap space, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. However, BriseBois told reporters Sunday that they don’t plan to buy out the veteran defenseman and that they like his “toolbox,” per The Athletic’s Joe Smith.

That said, the Bolts are still over the salary cap by $933,333, per CapFriendly, and will need to clear more cap space if they hope to re-sign unrestricted free agents Ondrej Palat and Jan Rutta this summer.