TAMPA — Every player wants to end his career on his own terms. Ryan Callahan did not get that option. Doctors advised he hang up his skates due to a degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine.
The Lightning will put Callahan on long-term injured reserve for the final year of his contract, which will alleviate some of the team’s salary cap issues.
Callahan’s back issues go back a few years but worsened this season.
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He missed two games in December after his back seized up during warmups, something he said that the time usually took a day or two to settle down.