HockeyBuzz is lucky to have a great cast of writing talent, including one Jan Levine. If you took a moment to read through Jan’s blog from last night, you would know that a potential Marty St. Louis-for-Ryan Callahan deal was discussed in the comments thread. After reading that last night and going to sleep, I awoke to a bevy of emails, messages, and texts asking for my own thoughts on the rumor.
Before commenting, here’s the latest from Jan:
Per the twitter conversations Boomer had Sunday morning, names ruled out are Marchand, Lucic, Simmonds, Clarkson, Neil and Erat. The latest name I have heard is Martin St. Louis, which makes sense.
It's believed St.Louis did ask #Lightning 4 trade when left off Canada. I'm told some #NHL clubs not sure if he still feels the same way now
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) February 24, 2014I personally thought that Marty answered those questions with his play on the ice. As Lightning head coach Jon Cooper predicted when the roster announcement was made, the exclusion motivated Marty to the nth degree. To say that St. Louis was a great performer for the Lightning through January and February would be to understate things in a most glaring way. He was phenomenal. In the absence of Steven Stamkos, Marty St. Louis has stepped up and proven once again that he is one of the league’s most talented and potent offensive forces.
When Stamkos withdrew from the Sochi games due to injury and St. Louis was named to replace him, I really felt that we were done with this conversation. Marty has been doubted and passed over throughout his career, but he’s always managed to find an opportunity. Sochi proved to be just another example of that, as St. Louis now proudly owns a Gold medal.
So, where is this rumor coming from?
A good place to start might be this piece from Larry Brooks of the New York Post. While the overarching theme of the article debunks the St. Louis-Callahan rumor, one small paragraph buried deep in the middle caught my eye:
St. Louis, who carries a cap hit of $5.625 million, is believed to have met separately and a few weeks apart with club owner Jeff Vinik and Yzerman in the wake of being bypassed by his own GM for Team Canada.
With all that said, now it’s time for me to give my thoughts on the rumor. The first comment I made today was this, and I still stand by it:
I'm just going to go right ahead and say that I can't see any scenario in which SY trades Marty St. Louis for half a year of Ryan Callahan.
— Michael Stuart (@HB_MikeStuart) February 23, 2014Outside of my commentary, a number of respected journalists weighed in to take this rumor down a peg. I’ve already linked to Brooks’s Post piece, so here’s some additional reaction:
Late to the party here, but chimming in anyway... No, the Lightning are not trading Marty St. Louis to the Rangers for Ryan Callahan, but...
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) February 24, 2014...it's almost certain that Callahan gets dealt by the deadline (I suspect sooner).
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) February 24, 2014Lots of questions directed tonight regarding rumor involving Marty St Louis; I have no knowledge that anything's in the works (continued)
— Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) February 24, 2014And honestly I can't see the team captain being dealt would send a bad message through the TB locker room in what has been a surprise season
— Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) February 24, 2014And if there were any bad feelings between SY and MSL, I'd have to think winning a gold medal would smooth those over pretty quickly
— Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) February 24, 2014On what planet does a team deal its leading scorer (with a yr+ remaining on contract) for a less talented player with an expiring contract?
— Scott Cullen (@tsnscottcullen) February 24, 2014St.Louis does have a full no move expiring 2014-15. As reported by @NYP_Brooksie Yzerman not interested in renting a top player without term
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) February 24, 2014As always, thanks for reading.