Could the New York Rangers part with star scorer Rick Nash this summer?
In Saturday’s Headlines segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman got the summer rumour mill rolling with a report that the Rangers are open to the idea of trading Nash. But it won’t be an easy trade to make.
“You’re going to hear a lot of wild rumours this year George, I think this is going to be a crazy season for them and one of the first to hit is Rick Nash of the New York Rangers,” Friedman said. “He has a 12-team list that he can be dealt to and there seems to be a little bit of smoke to this one. I think they’ve been asked. I think they’d be willing to do it under the right circumstances.
“However, there’s a couple things here. No. 1, he’s got a $7.8 million cap hit for two more seasons — how would that work? And No. 2 , while he struggled this year the Rangers really defended him. They felt that Nash played hurt and that affected his totals and I think they do look at it and say if he’s healthy next year he could be much more effective. But he’s going to be a name and the Rangers are going to be a team to watch.”
Aside from Nash, the Rangers have five other players who will earn $5 million or more against the cap next season, with RFAs Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller still to be signed. As of right now, the Rangers have $56 million committed to next season’s cap.
After Friedman reported this on Hockey Night in Canada, John Shannon followed up with an interesting opinion about how a Nash trade could impact Steven Stamkos on the UFA market.
In 60 games this season, the 31-year-old Nash scored 15 goals and 36 points, the worst output of his NHL career.
After spending nine season in Columbus, Nash asked for a trade and was eventually shipped to the Rangers in 2012 along with Stephen Delisle for Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, Tim Erixon, and a first-round pick.
