After days of tense waiting, finally the Rick Nash saga is over.
The Rangers traded the admirable veteran to the Bruins on Sunday morning in exchange for a first-round pick in 2018, plus Ryan Lindgren, Ryan Spooner, Matt Beleskey and a seventh-round pick in 2019. Nash, 33, is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season as his eight-year, $62.4 million deal comes to a conclusion. The Rangers retained half of his prorated $7.8 million salary-cap hit, while the Bruins retained half of Beleskey’s $3.8 million hit while he is in the minors.
Nash submitted his 12-team no-trade list earlier this month, and it was a shock for him then that a trade was becoming an inevitability.
“It’s disappointing, it sucks,” Nash said on Feb. 5 in Dallas soon after he submitted the list. “I love being a Ranger, love being in New York. It’s just the things that happen when your team doesn’t win and they have to make business decisions. It’s really disappointing.”
With the deal, the Rangers now have nine picks in this upcoming draft, including two in each of the first three rounds.
Lindgren is a 20-year-old defenseman playing at the University of Minnesota, having been the Bruins’ second-round pick (No. 49 overall) in 2016.
Spooner is a 26-year-old forward who has put up nine goals and 16 assists while playing 39 games for the Bruins this season and has 253 games of NHL experience over parts of six seasons. He is in his final year of a contract that carries a $2.825 million salary-cap hit and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. It was unclear if Spooner was going to be available for the Rangers when they took on the Red Wings Sunday night at the Garden, with a pregame ceremony for raising Jean Ratelle’s No. 19 to the rafters.
Beleskey is a 29-year-old veteran who has been a bust for the Bruins since he signed a five-year, $19 million free-agent deal with them in summer 2015, carrying an annual cap hit of $3.8 million through the 2019-20 season. Boston had put him on waivers in mid-December, and since he cleared he had been playing for AHL Providence.
Meanwhile, Nash ends his time on Broadway with an anticlimax, having sat out the past two games as a precaution for what was an inevitable trade for the prime rental winger on the market. He was supposed to be the piece who got the Rangers over the hump when he was obtained in a blockbuster deal with the Blue Jackets in summer 2012. Going to Columbus were Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first-round pick in 2013. Nash brought with him an annual salary-cap hit of $7.8 million that colored all of the good two-way work he put in.
This was his sixth season on Broadway, and he amassed 145 goals in 375 regular-season games. He also added 14 goals in 73 playoff games for the Blueshirts, which might be the thing that most fans remember — like his one goal in 12 playoff games in his first postseason in 2013, and just three on their 25-game run to the Stanley Cup final in 2014.
This was the biggest and most obvious move GM Jeff Gorton was going to make before Monday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. But he still has some attractive trade pieces left, including captain Ryan McDonagh and winger Mats Zuccarello, both of whom have one more year left on the deals and might bring a better return at June’s draft.
“I think everyone is on the table,” Gorton told MSG Network on Friday. “When you’re doing what we’re doing, it takes a lot of work and a lot of effort. And we’re going to need to bring in a lot of young players and guys that can play in the game today. And we have to look at our best players and our best assets. Unfortunately, that might hit home a little bit with some guys that have been here and had some success.”
Who needs sleep on a Saturday night?!?!
As the night has gone on, the “Rick Nash to the Boston Bruins” rumors have intensified. In fact, they’ve intensified hour-to-hour, it seems.
The latest, however, is a pretty substantial update:
Following up our Headlines.. sources saying framework of a deal in place btw @NYRangers and @NHLBruins for Rick Nash. Salary cap implications much like the Brassard deal still being worked on #notdone @NHL https://t.co/75IMRcO97n — Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) February 25, 2018
YIKES.
If Nick Kypreos is to be believed, Rick Nash is going to be a Boston Bruin.
The Brassard salary implications point refers to the Pittsburgh Penguins acquiring Derick Brassard after some weird money move involving the Vegas Golden Knights and the Ottawa Senators.
It’s long been presumed that any deal involving Nash to the Bruins would involve the Rangers retaining some salary, the Rangers taking a contract from the Bruins or both.
Any combination of those things could be the salary cap implications Kypreos is referring to above.
We were debating a potential Nash trade in our Slack chat, so let’s throw them out there.
Dan: Austin Czarnik, Adam McQuaid and a 2nd-round pick
Chris: Adam McQuaid, Peter Cehlarik and a 2nd-round pick; NYR retains some salary
Jason: Matt Beleskey, Peter Cehlarik and a 1st-round pick
Jake: Matt Beleskey, Peter Cehlarik and Florida’s 3rd-round pick
What do you think? DON’T GO TO SLEEP, WHO KNOWS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
EDIT (11:57 PM): Alright, maybe you can go to bed after all.
Bruins and NYR still working on Nash trade. Cap related challenges. Not expected to be finalized tonight, so not done until done. #TSN https://t.co/G37rzRKRTw — Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) February 25, 2018
More:
While you’re watching the Boston Bruins face the Toronto Maple Leafs up north, things are heating up on the trade rumor front.
The rumor? Rick Nash to the Bruins. Oh.
From pretty much all of the leading hockey guys in Canada:
Bruins busy with the Leafs in game, but Boston definitely has interest in Rick Nash. Can they make the cap work? Ongoing discussions. — Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) February 25, 2018
Things progressing on the Rick Nash front. Rangers got an offer today to consider. But still other teams in the mix, too Not out of the question that a deal gets done in next 24 hours. — Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 24, 2018
Hearing BOS in on Rick Nash tonight...appear to be leading contender — Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 25, 2018
No surprise BOS a potential front runner for Rick Nash. Bruins have their own first-round picks, plus quite a bevy of really solid prospects, such as Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, Ryan Lindgren, Trent Frederic etc etc, all of which would be attractive to NYR: https://t.co/2vQI0tC0iR — Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 25, 2018
My understanding is that Boston made an offer today... where it goes from there remains to be seen https://t.co/fnHWaT1PZV — Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 25, 2018
Ah. Well. Oh. Um.
Kind of hard to judge this, for a number of reasons:
They’re just rumors, so take them with a grain of salt.
There’s no point in complaining too much until you see a return.
Michael Grabner fetched the Rangers a second-round pick and a prospect. Chances are they’ll be seeking slightly more for Nash, even though Grabner is having a better season.
My guess is that Nash would cost the Bruins AT LEAST a second-round pick, plus a borderline NHL-ready prospect.
If they can make that deal, do you do it? If it’s a “slightly more than Grabner” deal, sure, why not? But if the Rangers are looking for a first-round pick or a Ryan Donato, Jakub Zboril, Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, etc., walk away. WALK AWAY, DON.
EDIT (11:55 PM): We have a new post up with an update from Nick Kypreos, who claims sources say the framework of a deal is in place.
BUFFALO -- The Bruins have gone all in.
In a blockbuster, the B's obtained the top rental piece on the market in grabbing Rick Nash from the Rangers with a handsome bounty going back to the New Yorkers. The Blueshirts will receive center/wing Ryan Spooner, 2016 second round defenseman Ryan Lindgren, a 2018 first round pick and 2019 seventh rounder and Matt Beleskey. Also the Bruins will retain 50 percent of the buried-in-Providence Beleskey's salary – he's got two more years left at $3.8 million – and the Rangers will retain half of Nash's deal, a $7.8 cap hit that will expire at the end of this season.
The 33-year-old Nash's production has fallen off in recent years but he's still capable of impacting a game with his size (6-4, 211 pounds) and skill. His best year was with the Blueshirts in 2014-15 when he scored 42 goals with 27 assists and a plus-29.
Nash is expected to meet the team in Buffalo and is eligible to play in the 5 p.m. game against the Sabres. Without Nash, the B's would be down to 11 forwards, though they could always dress seven defensemen for tonight.
The assumption is that Nash will slot in for the departed Spooner on David Krejci's right side. Another option would be for him to play on the top line and drop David Pastrnak down to the Krejci line, giving the B's a different dynamic. Chances are, though, they won't want to mess with the highly successful Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Pastrnak unit, at least not yet.
Spooner, meanwhile, was going to be a restricted free agent again this summer and he was most likely going to be in line for a salary the B's may not have wanted to pay. Nonetheless, the much maligned Spooner did a very good job adjusting to playing his off wing and his presence on the power-play will be missed.
Lindgren projects to be a solid stay-at-home defenseman, potentially a top shutdown guy with strong leadership skills. He's also the second left-handed defenseman the B's have wheeled out of town after sending Robbie O'Gara to the Rangers last week for Nick Holden. But they still have Jakub Zboril, Jeremy Lauzon and Emil Johansson in the pipeline down in Providence.
It is a very big package to be sending out for a couple of months of service for Nash, but with the way the season the B's have had and the age of some of their core players, it doesn't appear they had much of a choice.
