Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Brooks weaves Callahan saga into a critique of CBA, Sather

03/01/2014 at 9:56pm EST

The New York Post's Larry Brooks' pre-trade deadline missive mostly focuses upon the Rangers' attempts to re-sign Ryan Callahan, but Brooks attacks the topic in a...unique...message-sending manner:

[It] is patently absurd for anyone to argue because [Rangers GM Glen] Sather lavished excess riches on, oh, take your pick from a cast of thousands — but Val Kamensky, Dave Karpa, Vladimir Malakhov, Scott Gomez and Wade Redden will do as illustrations — that the GM then should routinely “overpay” anyone in the organization coming up for an extension.

It is not, however, foolish for a Blueblood Ranger such as Callahan, or Henrik Lundqvist or Dan Girardi, to wonder why the Garden spigots seem to flow so easily with gold when it comes to signing guys from other teams but the process becomes so difficult when it comes to one of their own.

Look, the rules have changed on the Rangers and other big-market teams that were able to attract players by front-loading contracts. There seems little doubt the Blueshirts would have been able to accommodate Lundqvist and Girardi without nearly as much fuss as it took to complete those deals, and already would have been able to strike an agreement with Callahan, as well, under the old CBA.

By the way, the elimination of front-loading in the new CBA did not exactly level the field as much as it cut the financial legs out from under the league’s cash-register franchises. Clubs that play in states (or cities) with heavy tax burdens are at a dollar-for-dollar disadvantage in bidding for players, and clubs that play in areas with greater costs of living are at a disadvantage, as well.

Brooks continues, saying that Callahan has every right to leave if he and the Rangers can't hammer out a deal. Brooks also addresses the Ryan Miller deal and Phil Esposito's quip with Brooks' suggestion that the Lightning and Martin St. Louis are slowly but surely moving toward a divorce.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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