from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

Two Western Conference executives I traded texts with on Thursday afternoon believed Sather's priority was still to re-sign Callahan and that he was simply calling around "to give himself options for Plan B," one executive said. Perhaps, not to mention put pressure on Callahan to step down from his contract stance, believed to be in the seven-year range and around $6 million a year. A source also told ESPNNewYork.com's Katie Strang that Sather would not be opposed to trading Callahan within the Eastern Conference, either.

Callahan's veteran agent, Steve Bartlett, who would not get into any specifics in terms of contract talks, certainly is well aware of what's going on.

"Right now, we only have one team we can negotiate with and we're trying to do that in good faith," Bartlett told ESPN.com on Friday. "I always retain hope that something can get done. But if it doesn't, that's the business. I never tell a GM if he's right or wrong, I just present what I believe is right for my client."

more plus some Sequin and Bernier talk...