Despite the fact that the Tampa Bay Lightning have protection issues in their forward group when it comes to the expansion draft, the team has not yet asked Ryan Callahan to waive his no-movement clause, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. If he doesn’t waive it, it would mean he is automatically protected from the draft and the team would be down a protection slot. The deadline to ask a player to waive their clause is 4pm on Monday, giving the Lightning the weekend to decide.
Callahan played just 18 games this season due to a hip injury, and is the Lightning’s second highest-paid forward at $5.8MM per season. That deal has three years remaining on it, and now 32 and several years removed from his last effective season it is one of the biggest problems for a team tight to the cap. Callahan is part of the leadership group on Tampa Bay, and has been an alternate captain for the past few seasons after serving as captain for the New York Rangers. While he’s expected to be ready for the start of the season, his effectiveness is still in question as anything more than a bottom-six player.
With at least eight forwards deserved of protection from the Golden Knights, Callahan waiving his NMC would seem like a smart move for GM Steve Yzerman and company. The effect it may have on player relations though has long been debated, with several executives previously stating that they’d never ask a player to move it. It’s unclear whether Yzerman had to convince (or at least come to some sort of agreement with) Valtteri Filppula to waive his no-trade clause to go to Philadelphia at the trade deadline, as the clause only blocked trades to 13 of the other 29 teams. Filppula did use it to block a deal with the Maple Leafs however, indicating that Yzerman was at least somewhat open to the idea of asking him to waive it.
Regardless, there now is just a few days remaining for Yzerman to change his mind and see if Callahan would waive the clause for the betterment of the team. At very little risk of being selected, Callahan could help the Lightning keep the forwards they want and hopefully keeping the core group together. He did earn the clause with his play though, and has no responsibility to the fans or his teammates to waive it.