By: Scott Bluni
Does this sound like a broken record yet? Since before the 2011-2012 NHL trade deadline
last season, Rick Nash trade rumors have been a substantial part of all NHL
news. Something tells me that Nash won’t be finding a home any time soon
because of the Collective Bargaining Agreement talks that just began last
week.
The former #1 overall pick is one of the best, if not the
best, offensive trade commodity still available for teams this offseason. The 28-year-old Ontario native has proven
that he can consistently get past the 30 goals plateau every season, and even
won the Rocket Richard Trophy in the 2003-2004 season with 41G/16A/57P. Nash was able to score 41 goals with Andrew
Cassels as his center, and for those of you who don’t know, Cassels is by no
means a superstar center. He is a
consistent 50-60 point scorer who also brings a physical element to his
game. The winger has proven he can score
and play a two-way game without much supporting cast in Columbus. If Nash can get out of Columbus and onto a
playoff-caliber team his goals and points could increase substantially.
The teams on his “list” include the Boston Bruins, Detroit
Red Wings, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and San
Jose Sharks. Essentially, Nash wants to
work with Patrice Bergeron/Tyler Seguin, Pavel Datsyuk, Brad Richards, Claude
Giroux/Danny Briere, Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin or Joe Thornton. Again, Nash has never had a superstar center
to work with, and a distributing center could raise his game to new
heights. The teams on this list also have
high caliber offensive defenseman who can distribute the puck to forwards and
set up power plays.
Despite the potential in signing Rick Nash, there are some
serious problems to consider for the teams on his list. The first and most obvious problem is that
because his trade value is so high other teams will potentially have to send a
lot to Columbus in order to acquire him.
For instance, in trade talks with the New York Rangers the Blue Jackets
wanted d-men Del Zotto or McDonagh, plus a first round pick and prospect Tim
Erixon. Del Zotto and McDonagh are both
young defensemen who proved this year that they have the potential to be
crucial difference makers for the Rangers franchise. That deal just seemed excessive for the
Rangers, who backed out of the deal before the deadline last year. However, in order for a deal to be made for
Rick Nash, the Blue Jackets will have to acquire a tremendous amount of young
talent as they continue their reconstruction in Columbus.
The other problem is that until a new collective bargaining
agreement is reached, teams might not be so quick to trade away prospects and
current NHLers for a guy that might prove to be an undesirable acquisition from
a salary cap standpoint. Not many
premier teams in the NHL can afford Nash’s $7.8M annual cap hit as it is,
meaning that change in their current rosters would be necessary in order to
employ him.
On July 13, NHL owners proposed a radical CBA proposal. In addition to getting rid of salary
arbitration, limiting contracts to 5 years and increasing entry-level contracts
from 3 years to 5 years, the owners proposed to reduce the players’ hockey
related revenues to 46% from 57%. Will
all of these specific demands be met?
Certainly not, but the owners have clearly and boldly outlined their
wishes for next season. The players’
association will undoubtedly lower these numbers and compromise with the
owners, but the $70.3M salary cap will have to be lowered if the NHL season is
to start in October. With the model that
the owners released, the salary cap would be knocked down to about $56.7M. This would also include a rollback on all
existing contracts of 20%.
At the moment, the Detroit Red Wings have the most cap space
on Nash’s “approved” list with $16.8M.
The New York Rangers have the second most with $15.M. However, this is based on the current CBA
model and the $70.3M cap. Could anyone
even afford Rick Nash if the salary cap was to potentially be lowered by
$10M? Unless drastic moves are made to
acquire him, probably not.
So where will he end up?
Columbus? Highly doubtful. The potential for locker room dysfunction is
obvious, regardless of what kind of support he could get from his
teammates. This process has already
created too much drama in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization, and too much
drama in the NHL as a whole. Keep in
mind, if he is not traded immediately he will be expected to go to training
camp, which would also be extremely awkward for Nash and the organization. If he remains on the Blue Jackets and chooses
not to go to camp it will cost him $27,636.35 per day (or 1/275 of his $7.6M
salary for the 2012-2013 season).
With new reports indicating that the Detroit Red Wings are
making an offer for the Phoenix Coyotes captain, Shane Doan, it can be inferred
that they have lost interest in Nash.
This would make the New York Rangers the new optimal place for Nash to
land. However, if Rick Nash is not
acquired by any team before the new collective bargaining agreement is reached,
it will be tough for anyone to sign him.
Let’s hope he lands somewhere soon because frankly I think we’re all
sick and tired of this Rick Nash drama.
Follow me (@bearbluni)
1 comments:
I'm hopeful the Rangers sign him as long as they don't give up to much.
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