Ranger Analysis: What kind of season can we expect from Ryan Callahan?
Recently NHL.com put up a story about players that they think will have a breakout year this season. They did it in a top 10 format and had Ryan Callahan as fourth. Here is what NHL.com had to say about Callahan in their article:
The speedy winger is one of coach John Tortorella's favorites. He plays a gritty, straight-line, no-nonsense game, goes hard into the corners and dashes to the front of the net. Callahan put up 22 goals last season and has the capabilities to do more. He's one of the Rangers' most humble players, but also one of their most important.
Now we are all aware of kind of season that Callahan had. His 22 goals were two off the Rangers lead and his 18 assists gave him a career high 40 points—27 points higher than last season’s mark. Callahan is already a fan favorite—especially since he is home grown talent—and is well on his way to becoming one of John Tortorella’s "go-to guys." All of this was taken into account when he signed his 2 year 4.6 million dollar contract.
So what are realistic expectations for Callahan this season? Well lets dissect this a little bit. Obviously his minutes will increase under Tortorella—as stated above Callie is a Torts' favorite. Callahan should see more power play time, and with the re-vamped power play that can convert, who knows what kind of numbers he can put up there. And his numbers should increase with the new up-tempo system.
When it comes to line combinations it’s safe to say we can expect him on at least the second line, and maybe even the first. On the power play he will definitely play with the likes of Gaborik, Kotalik, Drury, Dubinsky (hopefully) and Higgins, just to name a few. On this newly orchestrates team Callahan seems to be one of the main scorers on roster. He will be leaned on this year a lot more than he was last year. So what can we expect from him?
With all of this information what kind of numbers are we looking at? Is a 60 point performance too much to expect? What about 30+ goals this year? So tell me—in the comments—what do you expect from him?
