Tampa Bay Lightning trades Ryan Callahan to Ottawa Senators

The Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Callahan will be making his way north as the Lightning has traded the veteran forward to the Ottawa Senators.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has made a lot of changes over the course of the last couple of months. Some of these changes were expected, some were a little more of a surprise. There are still a few loose ends that need to be tied up before the start of the 2019-20 season, but today’s news was not quite the news fans expected.

Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Julien BriseBois announced this morning on the Lightning’s official site the team has traded veteran forward Ryan Callahan along with the team’s fifth-round selection in the 2020 NHL Draft to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for goaltender Mike Condon and a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Ryan Callahan brings a lot of valuable veteran experience with him anywhere he goes. Unfortunately, Callahan also comes with a history of injuries that seriously put a damper on this final couple of seasons with the Bolts.

On June 20, the Lightning announced their plans to place Callahan on Long-Term Injured Reserve after the 34-year-old forward was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease. While the move would’ve provided some relief to the team in regards to cap space, it also opened the door for a slew of other issues down the road.

As we mentioned previously, Ryan Callahan was not the only asset the Ottawa Senators gained out of this deal. The Senators also acquired the Lightning’s fifth-round selection in the 2020 NHL Draft. This is definitely not the worst thing the Lightning could’ve handed over in this deal, but if the Sens play their cards right, they could definitely attain something of value down the road with this.

On the other side of the ice, the Lightning acquired goaltender Mike Condon along with the Senators’ sixth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Condon has played four seasons in the NHL thus far, spanning three different NHL franchises.

Mike Condon played one season (2015-16) with the Montreal Canadiens before making his way to the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he would play all of one game. After his one and only game as a member of the Penguins, Condon would make his way to the Ottawa Senators, where he would spend the next three seasons.

The 2018-19 season was not exactly kind to Mike Condon. The 29-year-old netminder played just two games between the pipes for the Senators in the 2018-19 season. Those two games left Condon with a 0-2-0 record and a Goals Allowed Average of 6.40 and a Save Percentage of .800.

It will be interesting to see what Julien BriseBois has in store for the remainder of the off-season. We here at Bolts By The Bay would be incredibly shocked if we don’t see a few more pieces, and a few more big deals (cough, cough, Brayden Point) signed before the new season starts.

While the Ryan Callahan trade makes sense in a number of ways, the return on investment seems a little uneasy at the moment. The Tampa Bay Lightning has never been one to show all their cards at one time, so we’re fairly certain there is a plan in play here. It’ll be interesting to see what comes next.