Walt Whitman wrote: O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done. For many Rangers fans that sums up how they feel following the news of Ryan Callahan getting traded today to Tampa Bay for Martin St. Louis. Included within the deal were several picks, whereby NY has traded a second this year and first next season, in what is expected to be a very deep and top-heavy draft. In addition, if Callahan re-signs with Lightning, teams swap selections in 2015 Draft, NYR get Tampa's 2nd rounder; Tampa gets NY's 7th-rounder while if the Rangers make the conference finals this year, the second is upgraded to a first.
The first emotion I had was WOW, then the analysis had to start. To me, anyone who says they were not conflicted by the deal itself and then the parameters of the deal that came out shortly after is either fooling or deluding themselves or not being honest. Callahan was to many "our captain," a home-grown draft pick who was the heart and soul of the team. He was the epitome of John Tortorella's style of play, one willing to throw his body in front of a Zdeno Chara howitzer with disregard for his body. That quality endeared him to me and many others but it's also why the contract demands were such that we felt were too excessive due to his offensive limitations, some of which could have been system related, while many of it may be skill based. Callahan to me was a clear third line, borderline second line player, with less offensive talent than Ryan Kesler and probably Dustin Brown, each of whom make salaries more in line with what Callahan should get.
Another component of this is that it is an end of an era. That homegrown talent base, which was a major component of the 2012 ECF run, has now been dissipated. If you go line by line, what left in order from those who came through the system, are Kreider, Stepan, Zuccarello and Hagelin, that's it. On the blue line, Girardi, McDonagh (though via trade, in the system young enough to be almost home grown) and Staal. The concern that the team has once again become the mercenaries of the 90 into the 2000s has to be considered with Richards, St. Louis and Nash all brought in along with Gaborik who came on board and is now gone, replacing the Anisimov-Dubinsky-Callahan trio.
There are several other factors within the mix of the deal:
1) Callahan with his reported contract demands of eight years and $7.5 million last summer likely started this downward spiral as proposed by Darren Dreger. While the sides inched closer to an accord, Sather's self-imposed deadline of having a deal in place before the trade deadline loomed larger in the background than we thought. While trading your captain even for a captain, which is the first time this has happened at the trading deadline, could have lasting ramifications on how Sather and the organization are perceived, it's not clearer than ever that when Sather says something, he sure as heck means it regardless of the impact.
2) The cap hit for Callahan that was expected to be around six million is now largely taken up by St. Louis' $5.4 million cap hit. That 600k-$1 million projected savings could help re-sign Kreider or Zucc or Brassard. The belief that you would get three good years from Callahan followed by a possible breakdown was one that possibly impacted Sather's view on what to offer and it will be interesting to see what Callahan received as a free agent.
3) Steve Yzerman was backed into a corner and did as well as he could. Tampa is a possible contender this year. They get a very useful component in Callahan while the decline in offense in shift from St. Louis to Callahan is made up by returns of Steven Stamkos and Valtteri Filppula. Yzerman and the Lightning remove a major headache in a player who clearly wanted to go while also adding a one in a very deep draft along with a possible first this year.
4) As you all know I love Martin St. Louis as a player, have for years. Offensively, the Rangers are better. The make up and chemistry on this team, as noted above, has drastically changed moving clearly to the AV style. Personally, I think they need some more size up front, seeing what Philly and Boston did to them, as well depth on D but they should be able to score. They are deeper, since the three lines each are now dangerous and in addition, the acquisition of St. Louis may tip the scales on if Brad Richards is bought out from likely to somewhat unlikely, leaning towards possible improbable.
5) Surrounding Lundqvist with talent. In the past, it's been rely on Lundqvist and hope to scratch out enough goals. The window of opportunity only last so long, including Hank in his prime. If the Rangers are going to be contenders and really make a push, they may be centered on the next few years, which may be a component of why they dealt the picks. Personally, not having a 1 in '15 is annoying but possibility of no one next year as well, making it three straight seasons without one is very distasteful and as said above, bring back to a time gone by and not in a good way. Gord Clark did a great job in the third round this year, depending on that to happen a few years in a row is a bit of a stretch.
6) Short-term, this makes the Rangers better. Needs still exist but hopefully they can be met. Long-term, the jury is out, but if St. Louis does re-sign for let's say two years and can still be productive, some of the sting and imbalance of the trade for that timeframe is eased.
O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done. To Ryan Callahan, thanks for your service and good luck in Tampa. To Martin St. Louis, welcome and unfortunately, the klieg lights are clearly on you. To Glen Sather, being GM calls for tough decisions, today, you showed you were willing - positively or negatively - willing to make one. To Rangers fans, hop on board, the next few months will be very interesting.