- John Shannon on where Nash could land: Rangers, Maple Leafs, Canucks, and Kings. Lawton lists: Rangers, Kings, Red Wings and Flyers. Both say they need to get a young starting goalie back.
- Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun: Sure the Maple Leafs will be interested in Nash, but it would take a lot to pull it off, with the price getting higher with each passing day. Zeisberger lists some factors that will come into play: 1. Nash’s no-movement clause. He drives the bus. 2. Nash is in the 2nd year of a 8 year, $62.4 million deal, a $7.8 million cap hit. 3. The Blue Jackets are not actively shopping Nash, but will consider offers, and the price will be huge. Maple Leafs names you’ll hear will at least be Mikhail Grabovski, Luke Schenn, Nazem Kadri, James Reimer and Carl Gunnarsson.
- Elliotte Friedman of CBC: The Blue Jackets met last week to discuss Nash’s future, and decide to explore a trade. Apparently, they went to Nash a couple weeks ago about the idea, and were waiting for him to submit a list. Nash was willing to waive his no-movement as they were looking at another rebuild. The Blue Jackets currently have more than $50 million committed against the salary cap next year. 3 aspects that make a Nash deal complicated are: Nash must want to go there, that team has to pay the high asking price, and Nash has to fit into that teams cap structure and dressing room. On the surface the Canucks could be a perfect match with Cory Schneider, Cody Hodgson, Chris Tanev and maybe another piece, but don’t look for that to happen. The Rangers, Maple Leafs, and Flyers may not be scared of adding him. “The tough thing about trades like this one,” said another GM, “is that Columbus is starting in a bad position. Chances are, you’re giving up the best player.” The Maple Leafs may not have what GM Scott Howson wants, mainly goaltending. The Flyers and Kings may have the goalie the Blue Jackets need.
- Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch: The Blue Jackets management came to Rick Nash, he did not request a trade. Nash had a feeling they might come asking. Nash did not want a trade, and until last week, they were telling teams he wasn’t going to be traded. There is a chance nothing happens at the deadline and they wait until the summer. Arace wonders that if president Mike Priest and GM Scott Howson put the team in this predicament, how can they be the ones to fix it?
- Adam Kimelman of NHL.com: G Scott Howson told the Columbus Dispatch:
“We’re open to all options to try to improve the team,” Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson told the newspaper this morning. “As far as rumors go, we’re just not going to comment.”
and Rick Nash said to the Dispatch:
“The last couple of weeks there have been so many rumors,” Nash told the newspaper following the team’s morning skate. “And when a team loses, more rumors keep on surfacing. That’s what it seems to be right now, is just rumors.
“I’m a Blue Jacket right now. I’ve played my whole career here and it’s a special place to me. So as of right now I’m a Blue Jacket.”
Scott Howson to NHL.com on Saturday:
“I’m not going to disclose what we’re going to do, but we certainly have a plan in place,” Howson told NHL.com. “We’re working on it, we’re talking to teams. We’ll see … it’s not just a pre-deadline plan. It’s a plan leading up to the draft and leading into next season. We’ll see what happens before the 27th and we expect to be active.”
- TSN Tradecenter video link: McKenzie notes it could be a 5 team list, and that they could be looking for a young goalie, defenseman and forward for Nash. Canucks, Maple Leafs, Kings, Rangers and Flyers could be the teams. Too many assets to give up, cap number, and how it affects the dressing room are concerns for teams. Brandon Dubinsky’s name has come up with the Rangers. James van Riemsdyk would have be in the mix for the Flyers. The Kings have pieces like Jonathan Bernier, Andrei Loktionov and Slava Voynov. Wild card teams could be the Bruins and Sharks.