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Recently, I read an interesting conversation on Reddit about the idea of the Calgary Flames possibly acquiring Ryan Callahan. There was discussion about whether or not Callahan would fit into the Flames organization and at what cost.
As mentioned by cpbrowner, “I will be surprised if Callahan does not re-sign with the Rangers,” but also mentions that the Rangers captain could be a good alternative to Lee Stempniak.
As captain of the Rangers, Ryan Callahan has proven that he has leadership qualities that canadam seems to appreciate. Yet Moose11 believes that Callahan would be valuable now, but possibly not so much in the future of the Flames.
My own personal opinion is that I agree with Moose11. I think that Callahan would probably be a good fit with the Flames right now, especially because he is affordable (capgeek.com has him listed at $4.275 million, which would be a steal if the Flames entertained the idea of trading Mike Cammalleri), but I see Callahan as more of a band-aid solution that would fill a space on the roster for the time being. He would probably work well within the team for a while, but may not be an asset later on. In my opinion, Callahan borders on elite status, and could be a rebuilding tool to be used temporarily, but I just don’t see him being anything more than a bargaining chip for Calgary in the future.