Ryan Callahan’s agent, Steve Bartlett, said Wednesday afternoon that he was “cautiously optimistic” that he and the Rangers can agree to a new contract for the Rangers’ alternate captain before a salary arbitration hearing scheduled for Toronto on Thursday.
“We’re making some progress,” Bartlett said from his office in suburban Rochester. “Hopefully we can get this done by the end of the day and won’t have to go to Toronto.”
On Tuesday evening, Bartlett said he was waiting to hear from the Rangers.
“They have our proposal,” he said then. “But it looks like it’s headed to arbitration.”
A Rangers spokesman, John Rosasco, said the team had no comment but that “talks are continuing.”
Callahan, a 26-year-old United States Olympian from Rochester who scored 48 points in 60 games last season, is slated to start his sixth season with the Rangers and has often said how much he loves playing for the club. General Manager Glen Sather and Coach John Tortorella have often praised Callahan.
Callahan is already an alternate captain and is seen as the Rangers captain in waiting, perhaps as soon as next season, after last month’s buyout of the previous captain, Chris Drury.
Callahan is looking to roughly double his 2010-11 salary of $2.4 million. He would be the fourth of the Rangers’ restricted free agents to re-sign with the club this off season. The others were Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Brian Boyle and Steve Eminger.
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