It was another day of waiting, and again, to no avail.
Monday afternoon came and went without the Rangers reaching an agreement for a contract extension with their captain, Ryan Callahan, and the pressure cooker continued to build with intensity as Wednesday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline looms.
As a pending unrestricted free agent, Callahan and his camp have come down from their original asking price of seven years at more than $6.5 million per year, now with a proposal on the table believed to be six years and possibly between $6.25 and $6.5 million per. One source said Callahan’s agent had submitted their most recent revised proposal and was awaiting a response.
General manager Glen Sather has come up to meet the term of six years, but is seemingly perturbed at spending more than $6 million per on the 28-year-old, homegrown Ranger.
So it seems that gap has shrunk to a total of about $3 million, spread over six years, and yet it might be a gap that proves insurmountable. If that’s the case, then Sather will continue to shop Callahan as a rental property, most likely waiting as close to the deadline to ensure the highest return.
It’s difficult to gauge what Callahan might draw on the trade market, although it’s likely he could get closer to his original asking price if he hits the open free-agent market on July 1, the most likely bidder being his hometown Sabres. The native of Rochester will turn 29 on March 21.
His most productive season came in 2011-12, when he tallied 29 goals and 54 points in 76 regular-season games, then added another six goals and 10 points in 20 playoff games as the team went to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Being drafted by Sather in the fourth round of 2004 (127th overall), Callahan has known no other NHL team but the Rangers and has been open about his desire to stay.
“Just wait and see, I guess,” Callahan told reporters after Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the Bruins at the Garden. “Obviously my heart is still here and I want to be here, so we’ll see what happens.”
The situation hasn’t been made any easier by the fact that the loss to the Bruins was the Rangers’ second in a row, outscored 10-5 in the two contests. The Blueshirts have fallen behind the Flyers and into third place in the Metropolitan Division, just one point ahead of the fourth-place Capitals and two points ahead of the fifth-place Blue Jackets.
The Maple Leafs will be at the Garden on Wednesday, dropping the puck just hours after the deadline passes. If Callahan is in a Rangers uniform when that happens, he’ll almost assuredly be a happy — and richer — man.