While it’s hard to imagine a swap of two healthy scratches serving as the first trickle of a gush of NHL trade action, well, sometimes you just need to move few small before the logjam breaks.
The deal that sent little-used grinder Dale Weise from Vancouver to Montreal for less-used defenceman Raphael Diaz barely registered outside those cities. But with the Olympic trade embargo kicking in on Friday and the real deadline day now just a month away on March 5, tire-kicking will soon give way to trigger-pulling — and if the New York Rangers decide to deal captain Ryan Callahan, it’ll be the shot heard ‘round the hockey world.
Most of the transaction chatter is fairly predictable, from a fire sale in Buffalo, to the desire of Los Angeles and Ottawa to land a scorer, to the Islanders’ auction of Thomas Vanek. But the recent news out of Manhattan regarding the Rangers’ rumoured willingness to move Callahan represents a tantalizing new wrinkle to the usual "buyers and sellers" narrative we typically get this time of year.
The pertinent facts on both parties go something like this: Callahan, 28, is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and is reportedly looking for a seven-year deal in the range of $7 million per. The Rangers have deemed that a bit rich for their blood — yes, sometimes that does happen — but have no interest in watching Callahan blow town this summer. So, despite presently holding a playoff spot after overcoming a terrible start to the season, the Blueshirts are apparently ready and willing to move the gritty right winger if he doesn’t sign a contract extension.
Of course, talk about this happening is a lot different than this actually happening, but there’s an awful lot of smoke here. The notion of any team moving its captain while firmly entrenched in a playoff battle will generate headlines, but for a couple reasons the idea of Callahan being shipped out of New York is especially shocking. Outside of goalie Henrik Lundqvist, no player accounts for more of the Rangers’ DNA than "Cally." He’s a Rochester native, a fourth-round long shot who forged his own classic American underdog story by scrapping his way up to leading-man status for one of the league’s flagship clubs.
From the Rangers perspective, one step back for two forward is a tough sell in a sports town more in tune with the win-everything-always mentality of the late George Steinbrenner. And while the Blueshirts have evolved from the free-spending days of decades past — both because of better internal policies and the advent of the salary cap — we’re still conditioned to expect any money issue in New York will be resolved, especially when it involves a fundamental building-block player.
Should GM Glen Sather take the drastic step of moving Callahan, full marks to him for keeping his eye on the big picture. In a year where any team that makes the Eastern Conference playoffs could legitimately win two rounds, Sather would be acknowledging that his club isn’t ready to go all the way. Fetching a nice return for Callahan rather than watching him walk in a few months would help with the long-term goal of winning a Stanley Cup. Just don’t expect that perspective to immediately find the Rangers faithful should their beloved leader be dealt in the heat of a post-season battle.