Martin St. Louis has apparently wanted to be a New York Ranger for years now and he finally got his wish today. After demanding a trade out of Tampa Bay and asking New York be the destination, a deal was finally consummated:
As per @TSNBobMcKenzie, pending a trade call, Martin St. Louis to NYR is a done deal
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 5, 2014
Tampa gets 15 1st; '14 2nd that becomes a 1st if NY gets to Conf Final. IF Callahan stays, NY gets our 2nd in '15 and tb get NY's 7th in '15
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) March 5, 2014
The deal includes a first round pick in 2015 and a second round pick in 2014 going with Callahan to Tampa Bay. If Callahan ends up signing with the Lightning, per Pierre Lebrun, the Rangers will get an additional pick.
Martin St. Louis for Ryan Callahan
Callahan, the captain of the Rangers, is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and the thought is that the Lightning will not extend Callahan. In that sense, the Lightning still have a team that can contend in a weak Eastern Conference this year and stockpile the cupboards with high draft picks for years to come. Aside from St. Louis, the core of this team – Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Ben Bishop – are still not at their prime or just getting to those years. Tampa can afford to give draft picks 3-4 years to develop while maintaining a consistent playoff team in the meantime. If St. Louis really wanted out of Tampa Bay that badly, this is a good trade for them.
On the flipside, the Rangers get one of the elite producers in the NHL for what could be a Stanley Cup run. Make no mistake, this team is a contender in the Eastern Conference. That’s probably an indictment of the Conference, but I digress.
This trade does make the Rangers stacked through their first three lines. With St. Louis signed through next year, this would give the Rangers a good two-year window to get to the Cup Finals.
That price for St. Louis is pretty steep for the Rangers but it could very well be worth it if they find themselves in the Cup Final in the next two years.
