There was no apparent change on Sunday in the Ryan Callahan dynamic as it applies to either his camp’s negotiations with the Rangers or management’s negotiations with potential trade partners.
Time is more an ally of the captain than of general manager Glen Sather. As a pending free agent, Callahan won’t be able to speak to all of the other 29 teams until June 25, so though he would likely prefer to take care of his business now, there is no urgency whatsoever for him to operate in a restricted market.
Beyond that, though Buffalo is believed willing to meet Callahan’s asking price of a seven-year deal worth at least $42 million that would probably come with the club captaincy — think of it as the reverse Chris Drury — the 30th-overall Sabres are not involved in the current trade talks.
Why would they be, when there is no reason to surrender assets now when they can simply sign the winger free (alternate meaning) and clear when the market opens?
The Rangers, however, want this situation resolved as quickly as possible, and ideally before Friday’s 3 p.m. pre-Olympics roster freeze in order to guard against Callahan suffering an injury playing for Team USA in Sochi.
Hence, as far as contract negotiations, Sather is effectively (or not) bargaining against himself and his own unilateral deadline. The one danger for Callahan is if he or agent Steve Bartlett miscalculate the Rangers’ willingness to deal the captain and operate under the premise the unusually public trade talks have represented nothing but a charade.
The Rangers have games at the Garden Tuesday and Thursday, against the Avalanche and Oilers, respectively, before the temporary freeze and their match in Pittsburgh on Friday night that puts a wrap on the pre-Olympics schedule. The Blueshirts will re-open on Feb. 27 at home against the Blackhawks in the first of three games before the NHL’s March 5 trade deadline.
The Rangers, 10-3-1 in their last 14, are five points up on the Blue Jackets for the final divisional playoff spot, though Columbus has played two fewer games. The Blueshirts would be three points ahead of the Red Wings for the second and final conference wild-card spot, with Detroit holding one game in hand.
Henrik Lundqvist is 8-2 with a 1.50 goals-against average and .951 save percentage in his last 10 starts stretching back to Jan. 8, during which time he has allowed two goals or fewer nine times. Lundqvist had allowed three goals or more in 10 of his 11 starts immediately preceding this run.
The Blueshirts, who did not practice Sunday, return to the rink on Monday.