Ryan Callahan’s career all but over, what it means for the Tampa Bay Lightning

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
June 21, 2019

VANCOUVER, B.C. – The offseason for the Tampa Bay Lightning had many questions as soon as it suddenly ended in April.

One of the pressing issues involved the future of Ryan Callahan.

On Thursday, that question was answered in a stunning way.

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Callahan was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine. The diagnosis was announced by the team on Thursday after Callahan received a handful of opinions on the back issues he’s been dealing with and they all came to the same result – Callahan’s career is over.

“That’s never easy to hear when you’re speaking to a couple doctors and all of them agree on the same thing,” Callahan told the team website. “From what the doctors have said and the way I feel, it doesn’t look like I’m going to be able to come back.”

Callahan also told the team website that he’s been dealing with back issues and flare ups the past couple of seasons, with last season being the most difficult yet, which kept him out of games at times this season and removed him from games as well.

“It’s been a couple years in the making, and I think this year it just got to a point where it was almost unbearable at times,” Callhan said. “We tried a couple different things during the year to help it, and it helped it a little bit to where I could get into the game and play. But even throughout the year, it was always in the back of my head every game I played that this thing could go on me and spasm on me and flare up and I could be out, which happened to me in a couple of games. And then there are some games I didn’t play because of it. It ended up being a day-to-day thing to be honest with you. It depended on how I woke up in the morning and how I felt. I’m sure talking to the doctors too they agreed the contact and the physical game, the banging, the unpredictable movements of hockey aren’t conducive for it. It’s tough. It definitely is.”

Callahan has one year remaining on his contract that carries a $5.8 million cap hit and there had been speculation that Callahan could be a buy-out candidate once that window opened up last weekend. There had been some discussion about possibly convincing Callahan to waive his no-move clause to open up a trade possibly to the New York Rangers, where he served as captain before being dealt to Tampa Bay in 2014, or the Buffalo Sabres, which is close to his home in Rochester, N.Y.

Both of those options are now off the board as the team will place Callahan on the long term injury list at the start of next season and end his career with after 757 games, 307 of which came in a Tampa Bay jersey. over five-plus seasons. The rugged forward known more for his hard-nosed, team-first approach to the game scored 20-or-more goals four times in his career but his all-out play is what ultimately led him down the path he reached at the end of last season as he often sacrificed his body in the name of helping the team.

So, what does this mean for the Lightning, who are facing a salary cap crunch this coming season?

It means that potentially Tampa Bay has rougly $5.8 million in cap space opening up heading into the free agent market. With Callahan on LTI, it means that Tampa Bay is able to exceed the cap by the $5.8 million on Callahan’s contract next season. This is somewhat of a similar situation as the Chicago Blackhawks have done with Marian Hossa (though for a much longer length of time) or Tampa Bay did regarding Mattias Ohlund.

It might seem a bit too coincidental for some that the announcement comes from the team a week ahead of the free agent market, but it might be something they’ve had an idea was coming but were waiting on second opinions coming in from other medical experts before the decision was made. And there might have been a timetable for them to hit on that decision, which would have had to come before July 1 as Tampa Bay tries to open up cap space in order to set their plans in motion for the upcoming season and how it relates to getting Brayden Point signed to a new contract or possible dipping into the free agent waters.

There are more challenges ahead for Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois as he attempts to tweak the roster in the name of salary cap space heading into the free agent/summer part of the season, but now there is an answer to the Callahan situation.

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