The 2011-12 NHL season is over, but the Rick Nash sweepstakes is just beginning...again.
A report in Friday's Columbus Dispatch has Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson having more intense talks with a number of the teams in the hunt for Nash. That group includes the New York Rangers, the San Jose Sharks, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes, with Carolina a late entry to the competition.
There's not much in the way of new information as to which way things might be running, but there are certainly opportunities to speculate, so we'll do some of that here.
Not Making the Kessel Run - Perhaps the most ridiculous talk in the midst of the Nash bonanza is the idea of the Maple Leafs trading Phil Kessel in order to acquire Nash. There's a certain romance to the notion, with Nash hailing from Brampton, Ontario, but honestly, there's really not much to this. For starters, Kessel had his best NHL season to date in 2011-12 with 82 points, more than Nash has ever scored in his NHL career. Kessel is younger than Nash, has more playoff experience, and is really starting to look like the player the Maple Leafs traded for when they gave the Bruins the opportunity to draft Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton and Jared Knight. And that's another thing: given how much the Leafs gave up to get Kessel in the first place, shipping him out in favor of Nash is just about unthinkable. According to Damine Cox of the Toronto Star (@DamoSpin), Nash doesn't have the Leafs on his short list anyway, but even if he did, a Nash-Kessel deal isn't happening.
Home on the Rangers? - The Rangers were in on the Nash trade talk before the February deadline, but ultimately decided to go without him as they chased the Stanley Cup. After an anemic offense ended their run, and Marian Gaborik was revealed to have an injury that will keep him for at least the first month of the season, the Blueshirts should have a greater sense of urgency. Whether it's great enough to meet Columbus' demands - which were previously thought to include Brandon Dubinsky, Chris Kreider and more - remains to be seen, but the Rangers have done a good job building up their minor-league system and have good depth at center, so they may be able to spare enough players to acquire Nash.
Carolina on My Mind - The apparent entry of the Hurricanes into the sweepstakes is interesting. On the one hand, Nash would be going to another non-playoff team, as Carolina has made the playoffs just once since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006. On the other hand, the Hurricanes seem to be interested in a number of big moves this summer, including the acquisition of Jordan Staal to play with big brother Eric, and have a number of good young pieces with players like Jeff Skinner, Brandon Sutter and Jamie McBain. It's uncertain what Carolina would have to give up to bring in Nash, but the Hurricanes do have a well-stocked minor league system (ranked 10th by the Hockey News in the 2012 Future Watch). Carolina is an unlikely destination, but not an impossible one.