Goal Line Report
Rubbish/Callahan signed to three-year deal
by Patrick Hoffman on 07/27/11 at 03:49 PM ET
Comments (4)
UPDATE: The New York Rangers signed Callahan to a three -year deal worth $12.875 million, avoiding tomorrow’s arbitration and giving their heart and soul player a solid contract.
Click here for more on the Callahan deal.
Earlier
That should be the exact word to describe the fact that someone in the media said that New York Rangers’ forward Ryan Callahan should not be team captain if the arbitration hearing is held tomorrow as scheduled:
If the parties cannot agree on a long-term deal and Callahan goes through with the hearing for what would automatically be a one-year contract given his status as an impending free agent, he would likely get somewhere around $4.2 million.
Moreover, a one-year contract would likely eliminate Callahan from consideration to succeed Chris Drury as captain. If Callahan’s Broadway future is uncertain, Brad Richards would almost certainly get the “C.”
There is no doubt that Callahan is the heart and soul of this New York Rangers’ club. His absence from last year’s postseason was felt by the whole club, especially head coach John Tortorella.
It is quite clear that Tortorella is a big fan of Callahan’s. At one point last season, Tortorella said that Callahan is the perfect Ranger because he works hard every single night, goes above and beyond of what he is asked to do and is someone that can be relied on in all situations both on and off the ice.
While newcomer Brad Richards is also a leader, he is more of a “lead by example” kind of player while Callahan is both a vocal and “lead by example” player. This is not a knock on Richards at all. We all know that Richards has won a Cup before with Tortorella and the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2004 and that Tortorella and Richards have a great relationship.
With that said, it is time for the young core of this team to move the organization forward. Giving Callahan the “C” would certainly be a step in that direction.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Brad+Richards, John+Tortorella, New+York+Rangers, Ryan+Callahan,
Comments
Can’t agree more Pat. This is Callahan’s team. As you said, this team felt his absence in the playoffs big time, especially on the power play. The contract talks shouldn’t factor into the captaincy talks at all.
Posted by Matt Calamia from New York on 07/27/11 at 01:19 PM ET
Patrick—you missed the point.
No one is arguing that Callahan isn’t worthy of being captain. But it’s hard to see a team with a young core giving the “C” to a player who could walk away in a year. If the Rangers are going to give Callahan (or anyone else) the captaincy, they want to be sure he’s there for the long term.
Posted by DonK on 07/27/11 at 01:30 PM ET
I love the guy, but the way he plays he’s hurt a lot. He may not last too long.
Posted by 13 user names on 07/27/11 at 10:23 PM ET
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Shouldn’t holding out for the most money possible from the New York Rangers make the guy MORE deserving of the captaincy there rather than less?
Posted by HockeyinHD on 07/27/11 at 01:04 PM ET