Herrejon: Critical season for Ryan Callahan

By Dan Herrejon | @DanHerrejon | Like us on Facebook
October 2, 2017

So many times you hear old sports clichés about certain players as a new season begins. When that particular player is coming off the fewest number of regular season games played in over a decade, the noise becomes loud.

When the player in question has the third highest salary cap hit, the spotlight can be blinding. For Ryan Callahan, he is that player and the new season has fans concerned about the team’s Alternate Captain.

Callahan came to Tampa in exchange for Marty St. Louis in March of 2014 in a blockbuster trade with the New York Rangers. It would probably surprise many to know that after that mammoth deal, Callahan actually outperformed St. Louis for the remainder of the 2013-14 season.

Marty scored one lone goal in the 19 regular season games after the trade while Callahan tallied six goals in 20 games for the Bolts. For his performance, his leadership, his grit and sheer determination, Callahan was rewarded with a six year, $34.8 million dollar deal with Tampa.

Now, there were some Lightning fans that hated that deal since the ink was still wet on the contract. Especially in the salary cap era, an average annual cap hit of $5.8 million is hard to accept. Knowing that at the time, there were some younger players on the team who were going to need new deals. Some saw the Callahan deal as standing in the way of those other contracts.

In the initial year of the new deal, which was also the final season St. Louis played in New York, Callahan again outperformed Marty. In 74 games with New York, St. Louis scored 21 goals and added 31 assists to Callahan’s 24 goals and 30 assists.

Maybe Callahan needed the motivation to outplay the captain he was traded for or maybe there simply was no alternative for the gritty Callahan. He will never have a blistering shot like Steven Stamkos or Nikita Kucherov.

Callahan would never be considered to be a speed demon on the ice like Tyler Johnson. He just plays with such a high level of determination that he outperforms players with more noticeable skills. Tampa fans will never forget that five days after having an emergency appendectomy, Callahan would take the ice against his former team in the Eastern Conference finals.

He would help lead his new team into the Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks. Despite the many naysayers in Tampa about Callahan and his deal which goes through the 2019-20 season, this team is better with Callahan than without him in the lineup.

During the 2015-16 season, Callahan’s production went south in a hurry. Despite playing 73 games, his number of goals dropped from 24 to 10 and his assists went from 30 to 18. After that season, he underwent surgery to address a tear in his right hip which meant he gutted out those 73 games in excruciating pain

Entering last season, Callahan was still on the mend from the off season surgery and didn’t see the ice for the team until the end of October. He never looked quite right. Not that there was much chance to notice as he only played 18 games before he was put on the shelf.

Now we head into the new season and the spotlight is on Callahan. There are still many of the Tampa faithful that still hate that contract. Maybe if Steve Yzerman hadn’t signed him to that long deal, the team could have kept Ben Bishop or Jonathan Drouin.

All of that chatter is immaterial. If Ryan Callahan is healthy and it appears that at long last, he is playing like the 2014-15 version, the Lightning are a better team with him.

Callahan is the energy guy on the team. When he delivers a hit to an opposing player anyone can see the lift it brings to the Lightning bench. Aside from perhaps Ondrej Palat, no one on the team follows through on a check or a hit more than Callahan.

He is an undisputed leader of this young team. Think of the young players on the team like J.T. Brown or Cedric Paquette. These are the kind of players every team needs for the third and fourth lines. These are the guys that dig in the corners for the puck. The kind of guys that need to drop the gloves from time to time.

These are the guys that look at the work ethic of Callahan and learn what it takes to carve out a long, productive NHL career.

This is a critical year for Callahan. The boo-birds will be quick with their racket if there are a couple of poor performances or if the team struggles. If the injuries persist, the noise may become deafening.

None of that will matter because there is one certainty regarding Ryan Callahan. Hurt or not, healthy or not, playing well or struggling, Callahan will give the team 110-percent. He will leave it all out on the ice.

Lined up with newly signed free agent, Chris Kunitz and Vladislav Namestnikov, Callahan’s third line looks formidable on paper. Not only will opposing teams have to keep their heads on swivels to avoid the physical play this line presents but if they are not careful, this line has some offensive chops that will lead to points.

Yes, this is as important a season as Callahan has had in a long time. If the past is any indication, Callahan will come through for the team, for his team mates and for the fans. It is simply the way of Ryan Callahan.