Confirming Martin St-Louis is traded to the Rangers for Ryan Callahan. #lightning #tvasports
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) March 5, 2014
Tampa gets 15 1st; '14 2nd that becomes a 1st if NY gets to Conf Final. IF Callahan stays, NY gets our 2nd in '15 and tb get NY's 7th in '15
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) March 5, 2014
It had already been reported that the two teams were discussing a possible trade involving Martin St. Louis and Ryan Callahan, but the fact the deal actually came to fruition still comes as a shock.
So far as Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman is concerned, it’s hard to see this as anything but a direct result of his initially passing over St. Louis for a spot on Team Canada’s Olympic roster. While Callahan is a good player and the draft picks can’t be overlooked, today’s transaction has arguably weakened Yzerman’s squad heading into the playoffs. The long-term future for the franchise still looks good, however, given St. Louis is 38.
Meanwhile, Rangers general manager Glen Sather made it no secret that he would trade Callahan before today’s deadline if the two sides couldn’t come together on a contract extension for the pending unrestricted free agent. Obviously, an agreement was never reached, despite Callahan’s asking price reportedly coming down in the past few days. The availability of a player like St. Louis surely made it easier for Sather to pull the trigger on the deal.
End of the day, Rangers stood firm at $6 mil x 6 yrs. Callahan dropped to $6.25, but, NYR essentially ended negotiations on Tues.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) March 5, 2014
Callahan and Rangers were really close at the end, just $200,000 apart a year or so... lack of NTC in deal apparently big issue though...
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 5, 2014