First, let me say I can't wait for March 5 at 3pm - or if you have a Devils fax machine, 7pm - to get here. You guys know there is little I like less than having to delve into or discuss the myriad of trade rumors surrounding this time annually. In this case, I felt that Boomer Esiason had enough cache built up based on prior history that the rumor had enough legs for me to write it in a blog.
What we have seen is that it's pretty clear that Martin St. Louis wasn't happy with being left off the Canadian Olympic team. That may have resulted, depends on who you believe, in him approaching Lightning management to request a trade. In addition, the Rangers hearing of the possibility that he may be available, approached Tampa a month ago to try and make a Ryan Callahan-St. Louis deal, thereby obtaining an asset for a player who the team believes they can't re-sign.
The best way to describe this is where there is smoke, there likely is fire, though the embers are barely smoldering right now. We can say how we don't understand why St. Louis would be willing to toss years in Tampa due to a slight. But elite athletes are elite athletes because they can find motivation in everything and use it to propel themselves forward to higher levels, in this case, St. Louis clearly felt, rightly so, he deserved to be on the team and when his own GM Steve Yzerman bypassed him, that slight hit hard and drove his desire to move on. Now, Yzerman selecting him to replace Stamkos may have mollified him a bit but when you take the original slight along with St. Louis having a home and his family in NY, it's not that hard to make the connection.
Esiason clearly has connections in the know. That's backed up by several in the industry not flat out dismissing his claim. What is clear, as I mentioned above, is that St. Louis at one point wanted to be dealt. That doesn't mean they wanted Callahan, since he doesn't fit with Yzerman's strategy of locking up younger players but it looks like it was a move by New York to move a player that Yzerman may be interested in, especially if St. Louis requested/demanded a deal and they wanted to get something for a dissatisfied player. Both sides could be posturing. St Louis may have backed off his request to be dealt. But it's clear that Callahan will be moved unless he lowers his contract demands, which do not appear likely. In addition, we will have to expect lots more rumors until 3pm March 5.
Similar applies to Dan Girardi. Before the deadline, it looked as if Girardi would be re-signed just prior to, during or after the Olympics. The Rangers had made a pair of offers to Girardi that were not far from what was reported that he was asking. Now, the scuttlebutt is that the Rangers not be able to sign him and speculation has once again centered on Anaheim with those of us who read the blog hoping for something along the lines Vatanen, Rakiel or Palmieri and a 1 if Girardi is dealt. Most of us want G back over Callahan because finding RH top pairing d-men are harder than a second line forward, even if he is the captain. But we all may end up with neither Callahan nor Girardi here unless they lower their contract demands, forcing the fanbase to decide if they would be happier letting this all play out, going into the stretch drive and maybe the playoffs will both and seeing what happens after the season or do you need to make a deal now to get something so they aren't lost for nothing.
On the ice, Marc Staal is dealing with back spasms, which makes Girardi's durability more impressive. Mats Zuccarello is out at least 7-10 days after games start Thursday with his broken hand. Derek Dorsett is working his way back, but I would bring up JT Miller as many have suggested and play him or Brassard on the wing to reward him for his fine play since getting sent down and fill a major gap with Zucc out. Other than that, what's up in the air is the goalie schedule, but as I wrote before the break, start Cam Talbot on Thursday and maybe the first few games to allow Henrik Lundqvist time to recover after the Olympics.
Has March 5 gotten here yet? Because these next nine-plus days are going to be really long.