By Karen Aney (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: March 7, 2012
It’s a pretty sad story. Arguably one of the best players of his generation, Rick Nash is currently captaining a burning ship, headed straight into the ground. Columbus is dead last in the league, with not even a faint glimmer of hope of making the playoffs. Those of us who are able to look at the situation logically, i.e., those with no emotional affiliations with the team, don’t blame him for asking to be traded. But, at least before this deadline, it wasn’t going to happen.
The main reason it wasn’t going to happen is that there really isn’t a home for him. It’s a double edged sword: he’s too good for a team with no hope for a Cup run, yet that same skill makes him too valuable to be traded to a contending team. The problem is that he’s worth too much – meeting his trade price could easily dismantle a team completely, and that’s just not something a team headed to the playoffs can handle at this time of year.
The two teams that seemed to be the best fit were the Rangers and the Sharks (now that Jeff Carter has taken the Kings out of the running). Both teams have enough skilled, young players to pay the price for Nash, but are unwilling to move him for different reasons. The Rangers weren’t going to make a move for him because they were solidly at the top of their conference at the trade deadline. Though they could pay the price for Nash—players like Ryan McDonagh and Chris Kreider would be huge assets to the rebuilding Blue Jackets—Nash isn’t worth disrupting the synergy developed by the dominating team.
The Sharks are another story, albeit a similar one. They sit at seventh in the conference at press time, but the close point race at that level means their position is by no means guaranteed – and it wasn’t when the trade deadline rolled around, either. As anyone who watched the 2010 Olympics knows, Joe Thornton and Rick Nash are a lethal combination (yes, there were goals scored aside from that one from Crosby and Iginla). Though reuniting the two Canadians would put an intimidating face on the Sharks, the trade likely would have come at the cost of centre Logan Couture. Along with Big Joe, Couture is the young talent currently carrying the team. Losing him would be a huge hit for the precarious team, one that could easily take them out of the running to make it to playoffs – even if Thornton and Nash could manage to make maple leaf coloured magic all over the ice together.
Another reason Nash didn’t move is that the price—at this late point in the season—was irrefutably too high. Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson stated in a post-trade deadline media scrum that the price was “high. I don’t apologize for that. It had to be high.” What else did he say in that conference? That Nash came to him and asked to be traded. Talk about throwing your only asset under a bus. Nash held a press conference of his own the next day, stating that he held no ill feelings towards Howson for sharing that bit of information. Whether this was true or not, the fact that Nash is taking the high road is admirable. He went on to say that his dedication to the team hasn’t changed: “as of right now I’ll wear this jersey with pride, like I always have. I’ve always played my heart out for (the owners). And I will continue to do that as long as I’m a Blue Jacket and I’ll play my hardest for the fans as well.”
Despite the differing circumstances, the situation bears a rather striking resemblance to what Vancouverites experienced under the captaincy of Mark Messier. A failing team, a captain questioned by the fans, and a GM willing to be just a bit too candid with the media. When then-GM Mike Keenan blamed a loss directly on Linden in front of the media, it was the nail in the coffin that took Linden out of Vancouver. Canucks fans spent the next few seasons watching a sinking team with a captain that seemed unable to inspire a spark in his team. What did it take to turn the dark days around? Losing the loose-lipped GM and ousting the captain the fans (and team) had no faith in. Hopefully for Columbus fans—and the frustrated Nash—they’ll get what they’re waiting for this summer.
