The Rick Nash Lottery

[bdiam]

Love going to Junior hockey games this time of year. Instead of the usual 6-7 scouts that you see or that we'll sit beside, the last few games have seen somewhere in the 16-20 range. Certain guys from certain teams will outright lie to your face, while other guys (usually former players), will simply share what they've heard.

The "hot" rumours seem to center around either Nashville or Colorado doing something "bold" or "substantial" very soon. Colorado needs to make the playoffs or they're #1 pick in the draft (owed to Washington) will be a good-one.

Of course, the "hot player" that everyone is talking about, is Rick Nash. It's funny that more of the discussions center around his list of teams that he's willing to play for, even more then the trade rumours.

No surprise, that LA is first in line, followed by Toronto and Vancouver.

The big surprise (to me anyways), is the "apparent" offer that the Bruins made and how close things came to being a done-deal. In the end, they "apparently" wouldn't include the young d-men Hamilton and that knocked things off of the front-burner.

Rask, Krecji, 1st Rounder and Caron(?) was "apparently" their offer. Originally they offered Lucic but Columbus preferred Krecji. Since their 1st rounder will be very low, the Jackets pushed for Hamilton but the Bruins wouldn't budge. If they did, imagine Nash added to that lineup? Maybe they come back and add another 1st rounder?

The Leafs rumours were all over the place. Basically, "apparently" they offered all three of their young goalies, with no interest. Again "apparently", Burke is trying very hard to get a #1 Pick for Grabovski (Good-luck since he's UFA) and then use that #1 Pick along with their own. Schenn, Kadri and two number ones - most of the people thought that it wouldn't get it done. Problem is, nobody wants much of what Toronto has (ie) Toronto grossly over-values their prospects.

The Canucks - maybe the favorites? They have everything that Columbus wants and are on Nash's list. Their biggest issue - or what "apparently" is screwing-up the deal, Vancouver is tight against the salary cap and needs to dump a player on Columbus. Heard this from two people and another guy weighed-in and said the same thing (so actually three):

Schneider (they have a goalie in their system that most of the organization likes better, so he can go), Hodgson (he and his agent still hate Gillies and the same apparently holds true with Gillies), First-rounder, then a young d-men (they have two prospects in their system) and Keith Ballard. Including Ballard, apparently gives the Canucks enough room under the cap. The "apparent" problem, is that the Jackets would rather have Mason Raymond, over Ballard. The Canucks "apparently" said no, so the Jackets came-back and wanted a kid by the name of Jordan Schroeder, instead of the young d-men prospect. Schroeder is apparently highly thought of but is also very small >5'9. "Apparently", Vancouver ownership really wants to win now but unlike management, still doesn't trust Luongo. Who knows?

The Kings - everyone's front-runners. Of course, it starts with Bernier and a first rounder. "Apparently" they also like two young Russians - Loktionov and a young d-men (Voynov?). One would think, that this package would be enough but the one guy mentioned, that this was what Columbus had wanted for Jeff Carter and they likely wanted more for Nash. Probably the most pressure is on the Kings GM Lombardi. Ownership told him a few years ago, that they'd let him draft and re-build that way but "apparently", he could be gone, if they don't make the playoffs. Funny, in that Ron Hextall (Assistant LA GM) is mentioned as both a possible replacement for Howson in Columbus and Lombardi in LA.

The Blues "apparently" really like Nash and have a slew of players to offer. Unfortunately, their ownership problems are "apparently" allot worse then the league is letting-on and adding a $7-million/yr player, isn't in the cards. Not sure if the Blues, are also on that list.

The Rangers - a couple of people said "no-way" very strongly. They have built-up the prospect-pool and while Sather is always Sather, right now anyways, it doesn't look like a match. The "apparent" issue, had to deal with Mark Staal. They're still not sure about his long-term health and thus, don't want to trade away any other young d-men, until they are sure. Of course, this probably means they still go after him.

The Flyers - would be right-in there, if not for JVR being hurt. Columbus "apparently" would still take him in the package but based on what else they wanted - Couturier & Schenn, his value is at a low and that would wipe-out the Flyers youth.

There's the bs from a bunch of bs'rs. Wouldn't be surprised, if Nash goes nowhere until the summer. A couple of guys basically said, that they still don't think that Columbus ownership, trusts Howson to make the deal and are just doing all of this, to use it as a starting point for the summer. One of the biggest teams that likes Nash and is on his list (but has little salary-cap room now), is the Wings.

Interesting to see, if either the Bruins or Canucks "blink", give-in to giving away the top-prospect and go for it.

[mugatu471]

The Wings have pretty good salary cap room if I'm not mistaken.

[Wickabee]

I heard on TSN that Vancouver wasn't on his list of teams he'd waive for. I remember LA, Toronto and the Rags being on there...can't remember the other two, but I recall it being a list of 4 fairly legitimate contenders and Toronto (no offense, I just think you need another year or two at least).

From Vancouver's POV, I wouldn't say the organization likes Eddie Lack more than Schneider. I will say it's really exciting to see this team develop not 1 but 2 good goalies in their own system after years of not being able to (Their 4 best goalies were all traded for).
I'd also say that, despite the fact the Hodgson and his agent are on less than BFF terms with Gillis won't play into it at all. Hodgson is the first big-name rookie they've had since the Sedins and the first legitimate Calder contender they've had since Bure.

As to the Luongo/Schneider thing, I'm getting more and more convinced that they're going to hold onto that tandem for another run to the finals. As much as you don't want to lose Cory at the end of the season for nothing, there's no better way to go into the playoffs than with two legitimate goaltenders and Lack just isn't quite ready for that yet. I think Gillis will hold onto Schneider and hope Cory gets a nice offer sheet so the Canucks can get something for losing him (RFA).
As to Ballard, well, when he's on top of his game he can skate like Orr and make an entire team look ridiculous...he just rarely does that. When they picked him up I really hoped his offensive style would fit well. As it stands, he's not doing it and they're paying him too much for it.
At the end of the day, I don't think you'll see Vancouver do anything. They like the chemistry and, even though a guy like Nash is always a help and never a detriment, they don't want to mess with it. As much as Van wants to win now, Gillis doesn't seem to like the idea of mortgaging the future just to get it. The Canucks are going to look very, very similar to what they do now come March. Thing about Vancouver, Gillis though is he made 2 deals on deadline day last season and ended up adding two very important parts of the team (Higgins, Lapierre)

So in short, no Vancouver won't be making a play for Nash.

[jlai624]

I would only trade for Nash if it was like Cory, Raymond, Ballard and a 1st pick. That's the most I'd give up. Otherwise I am happy with going in with both goalies.

[flopfish]

One of the proposed trades on TSN was a Schneider, Hodgson, 1st round pick, and Chris Tanev for just Rick Nash. As good as Nash is, he's not worth giving up Schneids and Hodgson. Unless CBJ wants Luongo over Schnieder, the Canucks won't be able to work a deal out.

Toronto is a team that a lot of people forget about in this. But whoever picks up Nash more than likely won't win the Cup, look at the big trades in the past few years at the deadline. However, the best and most likely proposals are from the Leafs and Kings

The Leafs can give up either Reimer or Gustavsson, add Luke Schenn and a first rounder and you could have a deal done.

The Kings have the best shot at landing Nash. Hands down in my opinion.

[30ranfordfan]

Based on all the rumors, I would suspect a deal for Nash would look like this:

Rangers: Dubinsky, Zel Zotto, 1st, another prospect
Leafs: Gardiner, Kadri, Colboure, 1st
Canucks: Hodgeson, Raymond, Schnieder, 1st
Kings: Bernier, Johnsons, 1st, another prospect
Bruins: Rask, Krejci, Hamilton, another prospect


Columbus is going to want good, young, cheap, players. I can't even see Luke Schenn in a deal like this - becuase he's already signed a big contact extension.

My bet is that the only reason this trade has come up - is not becuase the Jackets want to "rebuild" but becuase there is a cash crunch, and they're losing too much money.

[flopfish]

Based on all the rumors, I would suspect a deal for Nash would look like this:

Rangers: Dubinsky, Zel Zotto, 1st, another prospect
Leafs: Gardiner, Kadri, Colboure, 1st
Canucks: Hodgeson, Raymond, Schnieder, 1st
Kings: Bernier, Johnsons, 1st, another prospect
Bruins: Rask, Krejci, Hamilton, another prospect


Columbus is going to want good, young, cheap, players. I can't even see Luke Schenn in a deal like this - becuase he's already signed a big contact extension.

My bet is that the only reason this trade has come up - is not becuase the Jackets want to "rebuild" but becuase there is a cash crunch, and they're losing too much money.

The two trades that make the most sense are the Kings and Bruins trades for me. Every other team is giving up too much, although I could see Burke pulling the trigger on a deal like that. Nash with Kessel could be a lethal combo.

[jagrnyr68]

for the Rangers, the 1st offer i heard was Nash for Duber, Chris Kreider, 1st rounder along with Stepan or McDonagh.....hell no lol. wouldnt mind giving up Duber, 1st rounder and Erixon along with another prospect (i prefer Zuccarello since we have no room for him anymore). if only Howson devalued Nash a little bit, that'd be possible

and if Rask, Krejci, Caron and a 1st was really the Bruins offer, i would've taken that easily if i was Columbus. getting a legitimite starter in Rask, an underrated playmaker in Krejci, Caron seems decent, and a 1st round pick? even if that pick won't be great, still seems like a win to me. Howson wants wayyyyyy too much for Nash

[Wickabee]

I would only trade for Nash if it was like Cory, Raymond, Ballard and a 1st pick. That's the most I'd give up. Otherwise I am happy with going in with both goalies.

Yeah, that's about all I'd give for him too, but I think the BJs would want Hodgson too and I wouldn't give that kid up right now just to watch him be a star elsewhere.

[duwal]

I'm so glad I'm not hearing any talk of San Jose wanting him. ALL of these rumored offers are way too much for him