Latest Nash word...

[One87]

NYR is willing to move Dubinsky, Christian Thomas and possibly McIlrath + 1st rd pick for Nash... Howson wants Erixon included, though:

http://m.nypost.com/p/sports/rangers...-rss&FEEDNAME=

[Chico Resch]

NYR is willing to move Dubinsky, Christian Thomas and possibly McIlrath + 1st rd pick for Nash... Howson wants Erixon included, though:

http://m.nypost.com/p/sports/rangers...-rss&FEEDNAME=

Ick....Im not seeing this as being a good trade for CBJ....Am I off??

[Carcillo]

Ick....Im not seeing this as being a good trade for CBJ....Am I off??

Not at all. All the prospects in the world won't make Columbus a better team (they're the worst team in the league in developing young talent). They're better off keeping their franchise player than downgrading him to Dubinsky and some solid prospects and picks.

[iamlilc]

Not at all. All the prospects in the world won't make Columbus a better team (they're the worst team in the league in developing young talent). They're better off keeping their franchise player than downgrading him to Dubinsky and some solid prospects and picks.

I agree, that's not worth getting rid of Nash at this point. Realistically CLB probably won't move Nash before the deadline unless someone is willing to overpay for him.

Unless the Rangers are willing to give up B-Dub + McDonagh/Staal + 1st, then I wouldn't move him right now.

[Gaborlick]

Rangers are stupid to go after Nash, they are winning without him, don't trade away DUBS!

[metaldude26]

Why would they want Erixon included? I do not know the details of what happened between him and Calgary but if I were a small market GM I would not want anything to do with him. Columbus has enough character issues with guys who do not want to be there. I am not even sure that this is a good deal but making Erixon a sticking point is not the way to go. He is a talent but there have to be other options.

[One87]

I agree with you all. After reading this, i thought: "no way this could be it." Stranger things have happened if this does end up being it. Personally, with the way this is going, i think Nash won't get dealt until the off-season.

[Pengwin7]

The Rangers do not need that Nash cap hit.
After YEARS, they finally put themselves in a spot to succeed.

I know they had lots of cap space to sign B-Rich... but adding Nash... IDK... that would just seem to put them in the same direction as the 2004 Lightning. Great team, perhaps win a cup, and then you are crippled by your contracts.

NYR is fine without Nash... I hope they realize this.

[baumer]

That's a horrible package for Nash.

[ross10019]

I am seemingly in the minority in thinking the Rangers should go hard after Nash, and I said as much in disagreeing with Jeff Angus' take expressed in his Rambles.

The Rangers have LOTS of young talent they can use in such a move, they are the youngest team inthe league. Not including guys on the roster now, they have Christian Thomas and Chris Kreider who will very soon be able to step right into the lineup, in the latter case, think a Max Pacioretty-like impact when he joins. And on D with McD/Sauer/DelZ already on the roster, guys like Erixon are also expendable.

As for cap hit, there are only two years left on Gabby's contract, after which $7.5M comes off the cap and they'll have Nash plus these young wingers to build around without too much of a drop from losing Gabby.

But in the end, to me this comes down to the Rangers obvious current window of opportunity. Despite having such a solid young core of DelZ/McD/STepan, the window for the NYR to win a Cup is NOW, and over the next 3 years or so, in other words when guys like Gaborik, Richards and especially Lundqvist start to decline. A guy like Nash IMMEDIATELY increases their chances at a Cup this year and for the next few years, and I think he will be monstrous in that regard despite his previous struggles with CBJ. The one knock is lockerroom chemistry, namely does Sather want to mess with what is obviouslyl a tight lockerroom - I think the answer to that is YES, if it brings them that much closer to winning a Cup this year, and the players will buy into that and they have enough leaders in that room (Cally, Richards, Lundy) to make sure it results in minimal impact on the players and their performance. In the end, the players will know that getting that closer to the Cup takes precedence over friendships and allegiances, and they are professionals who must deal with the fact that this is a business, after all. So as much as they won't like a Dubinsky (obvious candidate) being traded, they'll live with it and move on.

In Sather's shoes, I go hard at Nash for these reasons. A guy like Jones will help secondary scoring, a guy like Nash brings size and elite skill that is rare in this league. You bring Nash in you immediately give Lundqvist that much more immediate goal support, which will be huge in their quest for the Cup, plus Nash' size will come in handy in the playoffs. You could keep Gabby/Anisimov/Stepan and put Nash with Richards/Callahan on line 2, what a great top 6. Do you think Nash won't produce with Richards and Callahan on his line? Guess again. Sure you might argue that Nash and Richards are both shooters, which is one of the problems many of us foresaw with Howson's ill-advised move to bring in Carter to center Nash, but Richards is in another universe from Carter in terms of playmaking skill, so I don't think you can compare form that perspective.


So count me on the side of the Rangers pushing for Nash now.

[PocketRockets05]

Rangers are fine without Nash, but hey, if that's all it would take to get him I like that deal for NYR, cap hit or not.

There are ways to work around the cap - future trades down the road could always be done. It would be hard, but not impossible. Wolski and his 3.8 for doing squat is off the books next year, so that'll help. Plus, if they do this deal they'd obviously also be getting Dubinsky and his 4.2 off the books.

Nash >>>>> Dubsinky for the rest of this year, and beyond.

Could they also win with Dubinsky and not Nash? Yes. They have proven this throughout the year.

But, does their powerplay improve with Nash? Does their scoring improve? If the answer to the first two questions are yes, one could also say their chances of winning also improve.

Then there are the intangibles. Would Nash affect the "chemistry" on the Rangers? Not so sure. But, off hand, I've never heard any issues with Nash being a problem in a dressing room. Seems like a pretty nice guy. He's a current captain. Leadership qualities. Being in Columbus so long I'm sure he's hungry for success.

Gotta play the odds game here, and if the Rangers think their time is "now", I don't think this is such a bad move for them.

Heck - DelZ, McDonagh, Stepan are all signed to way below market prices currently so maybe now is the time as when all of those guys are signed to bigger deals it would be impossible to get a guy like this as there would just be no cap space.

Maybe all Nash needed was to play with better players in a more hockey-driven market to turn into an elite player, something he's proven on the international stage. Furthermore, maybe Nash finds chemistry with B.Rich and actually makes B.Rich worth his contract as well, instead of being only a 65 point player.

Lots of things to look at here. I guess time will tell.

[hockeyrulez69]

wow the only good thing about this deal would be that Nash would be in the Eastern Conference, but that is brutal.

[letangerang58]

Why would they want Erixon included? I do not know the details of what happened between him and Calgary but if I were a small market GM I would not want anything to do with him. Columbus has enough character issues with guys who do not want to be there. I am not even sure that this is a good deal but making Erixon a sticking point is not the way to go. He is a talent but there have to be other options.

Erixon didn't want to stay in Calgary because he felt like he wasn't going to get an opportunity to play this season. He didn't want to spend more time in the AHL so he demanded a trade. That worked out well for him. So maybe going somewhere like Columbus would be something Erixon wouldn't mind doing considering there's almost no competition ahead of him and he could get the opportunity to play as soon as this season.

[ericdaoust]

The latest word on Nash is that he woke up this morning and ate cornflakes. He did not pull a muscle in his back during breakfast.

[tgraveline]

The latest word on Nash is that he woke up this morning and ate cornflakes. He did not pull a muscle in his back during breakfast.

Thank God, the fantasy pools can continue trading him at an extremely high volume in hopes he's actually traded in real life. Anyone else noticing this on the boards? His fantasy value is up because of perceived value increase if he's traded so he's being pawned off for more. Hilarious how people react to rumors.