The problem here is that if you can't sign Callahan before the deadline and agree to a deal then you have to trade him.
You can't expect a Hossa-type return for Callahan and even that didn't work out all that well for the Thrashers. Callahan should fetch a 1st and a roster player. That's about all I'd expect for him. And that does little to help this Rangers team NOW.
A bad position to be in when you're a playoff team.
Why can't we expect as much as Hossa and why can't we expect more than a mediocre package?
Hossa's team wasn't in the playoff race when they traded him.
Kovalchuk's team (same one) wasn't in the playoff race when they traded him.
Iginla's team wasn't in the playoff race when they traded him.
These players are all getting more, and I understand the argument that they put up more offensive production than Callahan ever has...
But the price has to be inflated from another team to get one of our most important players, given the position we are in.
What about the financial implications with such a trade? Callahan is consistently a top jersey seller in the league. He's a household name. If a fan buys a Rangers jersey, chances are they are buying a Lundqvuist jersey or a Callahan jersey. What about the risk of missing the playoffs? Losing the captain of a contender, especially a heart and soul guy that everyone looks up to in the locker room, will certainly compound this risk. Some on here will tell you "I don't think that losing 1 player will yield those implications"... based on what, a gut feeling? I've
never seen a team that has been successful trade their captain mid-season and still go on to amount to anything in the same year. So, losing Callahan will lose Dolan... how many millions of dollars in revenue both in playoff revenue and jersey sales? What if the team tanks... then Dolan will also lose regular season revenue as fans will certainly become disenchanted with the team and refuse to go to watch them.
What about fan repercussion? If you trade Callahan, for anything less than stellar, how will fans react? Despite all the "logical media" reporting how this is a business... I would argue that theres a very large portion of fans that still want him back at all costs. Trading him for "1st and B-level prospect" or "1st and mediocre roster player" will alienate those diehards in one way or another. Many fans become fans to a team because they idolize one player - for many of them, that player is Callahan. Not getting fair value for Callahan will rise the question of "were the Rangers doing this just to save money?"... sure to anger fans that the possibility even exists... Mets fans were incensed when we didn't offer Reyes the contract he wasn't worth. Furthermore, what will those same fans think, when Sather waives around the same (if not more) money to another team's FA over the offseason? They won't boycott, but the first sign of trouble the Fire Sather chants from a few seasons ago will resurface and unfortunately the player that got Callahan's money will be starting with a leg down on the fans.
Finally, why is it that another team can never overpay for our free agents, but time and time again we see teams overpay for players that are worth to their teams what Callahan is worth to us? It's like half the fan base says... oh he's one of our players... let's finally decide to try and think logically about what he's worth, decrease that, and then we'll get the most we can expect. But for every other player... the logic is that they're worth much more than they eventually end up getting traded for.
Sather can't settle for "mediocre". Trade Callahan? Sure. By all means, especially since his contract demands likely wont fall. But trade him for mediocrity? Good luck justifying that financially or justifying it to the diehards who relate to the player and person Cally is.
