Rangers & Bolts Swap Captains

Finally!  The Trade Deadline Day gets a shot of life to it, as the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers make a deal to quell some concerns on both sides, as Martin St. Louis heads to the Big Apple for Ryan Callahan and a raft of reasonable picks.

With the suspected unrest of St. Louis in Tampa about his selection to Team Canada for the Sochi Olympics and Callahan's ongoing contract concerns with the Rangers, both players were on the radar to move, but not necessarily for each other in discussions.

It was no secret that St. Louis wanted to go to the Rangers and the Rangers only, if he were to move, so now that the deal is done we can talk about what they get out of him.

The dynamic offensive winger has 29 goals and 32 assists in 62 games for the Lightning, scoring at just a shade under a point-per-game.  He is ranked 16th in pool scoring, through Tuesday night's games and he will bring a lot of speed, skill and leadership to a Rangers team that could put it to good use.  Having a St. Louis on their side may be the sort of thing that can give a boost to a Rick Nash, who hasn't had the best years in 2014.

The very public contract discussions between Callahan and the Rangers may have been quite the distraction, especially in terms of the numbers that had been thrown around.  Likely, the deal wasn't going to get done, so the Rangers pulled the trigger and got this deal done instead.

What the Lightning are giving up in skill, Callahan will bring more in size and grit, where you may be able to wash out the leadership aspect as a draw going each way.  Callahan has only played 45 games this season for the Rangers, scoring 11 goals and 14 assists, but certainly has an upside to him that may have warranted some of those large numbers in contract talks.  It will be interesting to see how Callahan's dynamic fits in with the Lightning and who he could end up playing with.

Unfortunately, as big as this deal is in the NHL, this isn't a huge deal in the pool.  St. Louis belongs to Ryan M., who sits in 14th spot and Callahan belongs to Cindy, who is in 11th.

I wouldn't say that either move will increase the scoring production of either player, unless Callahan plays wing along side Steven Stamkos, who returns tomorrow night from his broken leg, then we could see some big numbers for Cindy, who sits 19 points out of the prizes today.

The Lightning had to be pretty unhappy with the St. Louis situation to make this deal, as this isn't a great hockey deal, in my opinion.  They would have to be really tickled pink to try and sign Callahan to a long-term deal, especially at the numbers that have already been bandied about.

There may be some relief in Tampa in this deal, since the draft picks they got in return, which are a 1st rounder in 2014 and a conditional 2nd rounder in 2015, but that won't help this team win now, as they sit in a solid playoff spot now.

There are some conditional picks on top of it all, but this has the appearance of a panicked deal all around.  How many panicked deals pan out?

The Rangers do become a better offensive team, but if they were to draw the Philadelphia Flyers or the Boston Bruins in the playoffs, will they be gritty enough to dig in and compete on a physical level with these teams?  I don't think so.