Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Report: Rangers, Nash are not interested in a trade

New York Rangers v Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 12: Rick Nash #61 of the New York Rangers waits for face-off during the NHL game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on April 12, 2014 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Rangers 1-0 in overtime. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

Getty Images

The New York Rangers parted ways with one splashy-move-turned-struggling-playoff-performer this offseason by buying out Brad Richards, but the New York Post’s Larry Brooks reports that there’s no push to trade Rick Nash.

To be more precise, neither Nash nor the Rangers want to make a deal, according to Brooks:

But I’m here to tell you that a trade is not happening. Nash has a no-move clause in his contract in force through the end of this season that management has no intention of asking him to waive and No. 61 has no intention of volunteering to forfeit.

Indeed, Cap Geek notes that he has a no-movement clause through 2014-15 that softens to a no-trade clause from 2015-16 through the expiration of his $7.8 million cap hit in 2017-18.

Short-term fit

Considering the turnover the Rangers have experienced during this summer, it’s understandable why they would want to keep their most dangerous goal-scoring threat in the mix, even considering another miserable playoff run for the power forward.

Rather than any talk of “choking,” the Rangers might be more concerned with aging, however. Nash turned 30 on June 16, and it’s well-documented that the “Big 3-0" can be very unfriendly to scorers.

Nash’s 26 goals last season were nice - especially considering being limited to 65 regular season games - yet he actually generated more points (42 to 39) in the lockout-abbreviated 2012-13 campaign. He’s seen his point totals decline steadily since the 2008-09 season, although the Rangers would probably be OK with that if he can still be a threat to score 30 tallies (which he generally has been, despite missing that mark in two short seasons* with the Rangers).

What about next summer, though?

Long story short, the Rangers are justified in keeping him for this season, but would a trade down the line make sense if Nash was OK with it? Ignoring the prominent players who still need deals this offseason, just take a look at some of the players who are scheduled to be free agents as of this writing (cap hits in parenthesis):

Martin St. Louis ($5.625 million)
Derek Stepan ($3.075 million)
Carl Hagelin ($2.25 million)
Marc Staal ($3.975 million)

The fact that Stepan and Hagelin are RFA’s softens the blow a bit, but it’s conceivable that all of those players might want a raise. (Yes, St. Louis is aging, but he’s also been a nice bargain for most/all of his career and might seek a big payout to wrap up his NHL days ...)
***

Nash has a hammer to swing even when he “only” has an NTC, yet that could be an interesting story to watch, especially if his season ends on a sour note once more. For now, though, it seems reasonable to believe that the power forward will stick in the Big Apple.

* The 2012-13 season throws off a lot of stats, doesn’t it?

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins