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Thoughts on Callahan and Foote |
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In less than 48 hours, the Lightning’s future took a dramatic turn. First came the news on Thursday evening that Ryan Callahan will likely retire due to a degenerative back disease. Second came the selection of Nolan Foote as their first-round draft pick.
It is easy to fall into the habit of reducing players to numbers and commodities, and when real-life situations such as Callahan’s intervene, the first inclination is to focus on his well-being. The entire NHL community wishes he’ll have a full recovery and enjoy a healthy career after hockey. Nevertheless, the cap ramifications of this development are not only consequential, they are an inescapable part of the conversation.
The Twitter account CapFriendly noted that the Lightning’s placing Callahan on LTIR does not provide cap relief. It just means they can surpass the upper limit of their existing cap, but with negatives (in the form of penalties) attached to doing this. But the negatives are modest compared to the benefit: the Lightning will be permitted to exceed the existing cap by $5.8M to sign Brayden Point.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Point could make $8M per season on his second contract. As an RFA, the Lightning desperately want to ink Point long-term before an adversary can present an offer sheet. The Lightning were already squeezed by their meager cap space and that was before news emerged that the NHL salary cap might be lower than projected. But the Callahan news gives Tampa Bay the flexibility to meet Point’s contract demands. If the Lightning can sign Point, they will have their big-three forwards (Point, Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos) all under contract for most or all of their primes. They will be secure at the center position with Point and Stamkos, shifting the focus almost immediately to how to get Andre Vasilevskiy and Anthony Cirelli extended as well.
The Lightning has made the Point saga extra difficult with their wasteful spending on role players. On Tampa Bay, too many average forwards make far too much money. And it doesn’t help that these role players received far too much agency in terms of their ability to prevent the Lightning from ever moving off their contracts, which are like millstones around the team’s neck.
Callahan the hockey player was a worker bee. At his best, Callahan was more productive than his talent should allow, and he carved out a long career as a result. It is sad to see his NHL playing time end on terms not of his choosing.
The Callahan contract was set to expire in 2020, which is well before the others, but the Lightning needed cap space immediately because of the Point contract negotiations. It is sad that things unfolded the way they did, but any discussion of a Cup in the Lightning’s future begins with Point’s involvement.
The Draft on Friday
The Lightning’s first-round pick on Friday is an intriguing choice. For a team that loves to over-pass and has a bunch of undersized forwards who are natural centers, Nolan Foote is a tall, brawny, eager shooter who also plays left wing. Foote led the Kelowna Rockets in goals with 36, and he managed to do this despite playing with a broken left wrist.
What I love about this pick is the Lightning’s recognition of the importance of having variation in their forward depth. It seems like Foote adds power, shooting, and touch around the net, and could be a force to pull the Lightning toward a more simple, north-south game when an opponent is providing a lot of back pressure and eliminating passing lanes. You know, like almost every team does during the playoffs. Overall, the Lightning needed more catch-and-release shooters, and watching all of Foote’s goals from junior, the man can sling it from the slot.
The Lightning evidently believe in the Foote bloodline as they selected Cal No. 14 in 2017. Watching the brothers’ progression within the Lightning organization will be interesting going forward.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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