On March 5th, something that has never happened before in NHL history, one team captain traded for another team’s captain in what was a blockbuster trade. Ryan Callahan of the New York Rangers went to the Tampa Bay Lightning and in exchange the Rangers got the Lightning’s Martin St. Louis. The Rangers also gave Tampa a variety of draft picks.
At the time it was said that the Rangers were getting the better end of that deal, as St. Louis was having a banner year, scoring 29 goals with 32 assists and a plus 12 rating which put him fifth in the league in scoring for this season. Callahan only had 11 goals, 14 assists with a minus 3 rating. But did the Rangers really come out on top with this trade? Or have the Lightning managed to get the better end of this deal?
Let’s start by looking at their stats since the trade:
St. Louis managed to make it to the Rangers game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on the night of March 5th, presumably through some rip in the time space continuum as game time at the Garden was at 7:00. Callahan made it down to Tampa Bay the following day. Since the trade, the Rangers have played 14 games to Tampa Bay’s 13 and here’s what the two former captains have produced since then:
| Callahan | St. Louis | |
| Goals | 5 (11) | 0 (29) |
| Assists | 4 (14) | 3 (32) |
| Plus/Minus | 4 (-3) | 1 (+12) |
| Penalty Minutes | 8 (16) | 2 (6) |
| Shots on Goal | 34 (109) | 27 (167) |
| Shooting Percentage | 14.7% (10.1%) | 0% (17.4%) |
(Numbers in parentheses are this season prior to trade)
So what do these numbers tell us? St. Louis did indeed look to be making another run at the Art Ross trophy this year, but now that he’s with the Rangers and if his performance in the last 12 games is any indication, it doesn’t look like he’ll be getting the scoring title in consecutive seasons.
Callahan, however, appears to be doing a bit better in the 13 games he’s played since the trade. He’s not on track for any scoring records this season, but there’s no disputing the fact that he’s been producing more points than St. Louis. For some reason Callahan is producing slightly better numbers than St. Louis. Could it have something to do with being out of the harsh glare of the New York media spotlight? Maybe he’s more relaxed down in Tampa Bay, a city more known for its palm trees than for winter sports, and isn’t feeling as much pressure now that’s he’s no longer the captain of the team that plays at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.” It could be that he was distracted while still in New York and trying to negotiate a new contract. He himself was quoted as saying that now that he’s in Tampa, he’s going to wait until the season is over to decide whether or not he wants to re-sign with Tampa or set his sights elsewhere as he wanted to give himself time to get acclimated to Tampa and their organization. So the pressure of negotiating a contract right now in the final weeks of the regular season is no longer hanging over his head. He’s also no longer dealing with any injuries that plagued him earlier in the season, the broken thumb in October and knee sprain in December should be more than all healed up by now, and I’m sure playing with injuries isn’t as conducive to scoring points as playing healthy.
As for St. Louis, maybe the opposite is true. Maybe he’s feeling a lot more pressure in New York and just needs to relax. It is quite strange that he’s played 12 games without a single goal but was previously averaging ½ a goal per game, or a goal every other game. He’s clearly still helping make things happen on the ice, but sadly just hasn’t been able to put the puck over that goal line. There were eight goals scored in the Rangers win over Ottawa on March 18 and St. Louis couldn’t manage to score a single goal in that game, and the Rangers scored five in their win over Edmonton March 30, but still no goal from St. Louis. The longer he goes without scoring, I’m afraid the more pressure he’s going to have on him to score. (While writing this original draft of this story, St. Louis appeared to have scored a goal against the Calgary Flames, but it was waived off.) It also doesn’t help that Ranger coach Alain Vigneault hasn’t been able to find a line combination with St. Louis that really works. Obviously reuniting him on the same line as Brad Richards hasn’t worked out. It’s been 10 years since they were together winning the Stanley Cup for the Lightning, they’re clearly not quite the same players now at the ages of 34 and 39 that they were in their twenties. Vigneault has also experimented with putting him on lines with Derrick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello, as well as Rick Nash and Derek Stepan, but that hasn’t worked out so great either. Not sure what the problem is, but Vigneault needs to find a combination that works because a goal scorer who isn’t scoring any goals doesn’t really do the Rangers much good as they head into the playoffs.
However, I don’t think the number of goals scored and assists are the only indicator of how well someone is playing. What about corsi? Ha, ha, ha, just kidding, we’re not getting into that, if for no reason other than I wasn’t able to find corsi stats for Callahan and St. Louis for this year.
Instead, let’s take a quick look at how their respective teams have been doing since the trade. The Lightning have played 13 games, winning 5 in regulation, one in OT and one in a shoot-out. The Rangers have won 8 in regulation and one in OT. As far as I’m concerned, those numbers are a little too close for me to call this for one team or the other based on the statistics. Maybe if I get out my Ouija board? Hmmm….
And because I know there are going to be those who are going to say, but what about after the season is over and Callahan is an unrestricted free agent whereas St. Louis still has a year left on his contract, and then there are those conditional draft picks. I’m not going to get into the draft picks because they’re based on several conditions so in my opinion it’s impossible at this point to use them as any sort of basis of comparison unless you want to go through every possible scenario. But yeah, as of the end of this season Callahan is free to sign with whatever team in the league wants him that he can agree to a contract with, including the New York Rangers. (Pause here for Rangers fans to get excited and start rumors about his return. Calm down, Sather hasn’t returned my calls for comment on that, something about having no idea who I am. Jerk.) In all seriousness though, could Callahan return to the Rangers next season? Sure. To my knowledge Callahan’s camp and the Rangers were getting pretty close to coming to terms at the time of the trade, so it certainly could happen. Is it going to happen? See my earlier comment about consultations with my Ouija board. Now as for St. Louis, he still has an entire year left on his contract so unless Sather decides to go crazy this summer and trade him somewhere else, we’re likely to see him suiting up for the Blueshirts again next season.
My conclusion, so far, is that the Callahan-St.Louis trade looks like a fairly even move with the Lightning coming out slightly better, but only by a small margin, especially if St. Louis can find a way to start scoring again. However, if Sather manages to re-sign Callahan over the summer returning him to New York, then Yzerman and the Lightning got screwed, and I’ll say well played Glen, well played.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @gonyr24. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter –@LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our Hockey writing team. Visit our “Write for Us” page for very easy details in how you can get started today!
