Ryan Callahan couldn’t get a new contract squared away in New York, so the Rangers traded their captain to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts gave him the contract he desired on Tuesday morning.
The Lightning announced Tuesday that they re-signed Callahan to a six-year contract. The new deal is worth a reported $34.8 million, according to multiple reports. That works out to a $5.8 million annual salary cap hit.
“I couldn’t be happier to be part of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization for the next six years and I am excited for this new chapter of my career,” Callahan said in the team’s press release. “Tampa Bay has been a great place to live and play from the day I got there. As soon as the season ended I knew it was a place I wanted to be.”
Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman called Callahan a “fierce competitor and outstanding leader who fits very well with our team.”
Callahan was traded to Tampa Bay at the trade deadline, as the Rangers sent the forward, a 2014 conditional draft pick and a 2015 first-round pick to Tampa in exchange for Martin St. Louis. That conditional pick will become a first-round pick after the Rangers reached the Eastern Conference finals.
Callahan appeared in 20 games with Tampa Bay and scored six goals to go along with five assists. He was held pointless in the first round where the Bolts were swept by the Montreal Canadiens.
Photo via Twitter/@TBLightning
