For those blaming Callahan and his agent, shame on you. Its Glen Sather and the New York Rangers that created this situation. The failure, year after year, to produce top-tier offensive talent caused them to elevate Callahan and his heart and soul/warrior status to the face of an original 6 franchise.
Will Callahan make the type of money hes seeking? Maybe. Does he feel he deserves it? Definitely, and thats the problem.
I disagree. The most offensively talented player isn't automatically the face of his franchise. Hank is by far the most talented player, though not offensively. Nash is more talented than Callahan on offense. McD is more talented at his own position than Callahan is at his.
Callahan was/is the face of the franchise because, until very, very recently, he played his heart out every game. He overcame his lack of talent in certain areas with hard work. People are drawn to that. People like a success story, and Americans by and large are drawn to their horatio alger stories, which Callahan's own story is a form of. "Great player comes to New York, plays great," doesn't have the draw that "underrated young player comes to New York, and through sheer handwork and courage, lifts himself into a leadership position in one of the NHL's oldest franchises" does in my opinion. Callahan's story is one that sells, as you can see when you talk to anybody who hardly knows the Rangers but knows who Callahan is, or when you see seas of Callahan jerseys at any game.
To me, his crazy demands are purely on Callahan and his agent. Sather kept a player that played hard, and Callahan earned every second of the spotlight that he had until very recently. The problem is, even with everything he does, his demands are ludicrous. Sather agreed to overpay him, but Callahan wants even more than an overpayment. That's nobody's fault but his own. He thinks some franchise will give him what he wants, and they probably will, however, he's been seriously misled if he thinks that a franchise with a fraction of a chance of winning anytime soon will bite on that deal.
