2014 Report Card: The Controversial Addition of Martin St. Louis Propels The Rangers

The Ryan Callahan rumors were running rampant all throughout the first half of the season. Was he going to re-sign? What was his latest offer? Was it worth it to re-sign him to those outrageous demands?

As we got closer to the March 5th trade deadline, some other rumors began to swirl coming out of Tampa Bay, that Martin St. Louis was upset with Lightning GM Steve Yzerman about being left off the initial Team Canada 2014 Sochi Olympic Team, but no one really thought that a trade would happen.

Then...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Confirming Martin St-Louis is traded to the Rangers for Ryan Callahan. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/lightning?src=hash">#lightning</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tvasports?src=hash">#tvasports</a></p>&mdash; Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) <a href="https://twitter.com/renlavoietva/statuses/441246439583522816">March 5, 2014</a></blockquote>

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Boom.

Everything changed, for the most part.

A rough transitional period

After the trade, Marty took a while to get himself going adjusting to a new team, coaching staff and linemates. It wasn't until his 16th game that he picked up his first goal against the Canucks. While there was some panicking about St. Louis' lack of production, there was still some very good signs with the way he played and started to gel with the team.

Playoff Inspiration

The Rangers acquired St. Louis because they felt they needed an experienced playoff performer up front and while he wasn't driving possession (in fact he really wasn't that great for most of the playoffs), Marty did have a penchant for scoring the big goals that he's been known for throughout his career and with the added weight of the emotional impact he brought to the locker room, it's hard to say that St. Louis was anything other than a positive spot for the Rangers.

Contract Status

Marty still has one more year left on his contract that sees him have a $5.625 million cap hit as well as an NMC. St. Louis will be looking to slot in on the Rangers top 6 next year, most likely playing with Carl Hagelin and Derick Brassard.

What grade would you give Martin St. Louis