The trade deadline is inching closer and closer, and with that, the trade talk is heating up. We take a look at some of the latest NHL rumours and analyze what they mean going forward. Today we look into the latest on New York Rangers forward Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets Brandon Dubinsky, and the Nashville Predators looking at a pair of Detroit Red Wings forwards.
Rick Nash, Brandon Dubinsky, Detroit Red Wings in the Latest NHL Rumours
Rick Nash
Rumour: TSN’s Bob McKenzie is reporting that the New York Rangers have asked Rick Nash to submit his no-trade list. Nash’s contract allows him to specify 18 teams that he can not be traded to, leaving 12 teams available for the Rangers to negotiate with. McKenzie also reports that the Nash is expected to make the Toronto Maple Leafs one of the teams he will accept a trade to.
Analysis: The Rangers appear ready to go into a full scale retool and are willing to trade Nash who becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. Nash is still a solid scorer, and a powerful player off-the-wing, even if he’s not quite the all-world presence he was earlier in his career. While there will be teams interested, it is doubtful that the Leafs are a fit. They have lots of depth at forward, and are more in need of defensive help. Teams that could be a fit for Nash include the St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Winnipeg Jets.
Brandon Dubinsky
Rumour: Stan Fischler is reporting that Brandon Dubinksy could be looking for a trade out of Columbus.
Dubinsky has had a difficult season and has not produced the way the Blue Jackets expected him to. Two weeks ago, there were conflicting reports on exactly what happened following Dubinsky being sent home while the team was in Las Vegas. Some indicated he was being disciplined by the team, while other reports said he was seeing a doctor about his eye injury. In any event, he returned to the Jackets line-up last week. Columbus has been struggling of late though, and there may be a desire to shake things up before the trade deadline.
Nashville Looking at Detroit Red Wings Forwards
Rumour: Bob McKenzie reports that Nashville could be looking at moving for one of the Detroit Red Wings forwards Tomas Tatar or Gustav Nyquist.
Analysis: It is no surprise that the Red Wings are in full rebuild mode. However with Tatar and Nyquist both relatively young and under team control, the Wings do not have to deal them at this deadline, if at all. The Red Wings can hold onto these assets until they get the price they want, just like Joe Sakic did with Matt Duchene. The Predators, who search for a top-six winger have options though. Nash, Evander Kane, Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk, Mike Hoffman and Patrick Maroon are all rumoured to be on the market. The ball is in the Predators court, do they want a one-year rental, or do they want more years of team control. David Poile has a number of young assets to work with, he will explore multiple options before making his deal.
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