The Boston Bruins are in on Rick Nash leading into the NHL trade deadline, according to the New York Post, just as they’re in on a number of veteran top-9 wingers headed into Feb. 26. It makes perfect sense with Nash as the kind of big, veteran winger that can put the puck in the net, and could add a really useful dimension to a Bruins forward group that’s currently young and small on the wing. Nash only has 17 goals and 27 points this season and has been a minus player for the Rangers on the back nine of his career at 33 years old, but the big left wing has been incredibly hot lately as well.
Nash scored New York’s only goal in their blowout loss to the Bruins last week, and has eight goals in his last 12 games while showing there’s still something left in the tank. So what would it cost the Bruins? It sounds like the Rangers want ready-made, young NHL talent as the main piece, so there’s no question New York would probably first ask about Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen or Brandon Carlo. But those kinds of players should be mostly off-limits except in the perfect deal for an impact player with term, and certainly would be untouchable for rental targets like Nash.
But could the Bruins offer up another young prospect like Anders Bjork, currently in Providence, in exchange for a player in Nash who could be a difference-maker in a playoff run, or somebody from their second wave of AHL prospects including Jakob Zboril or Zach Senyshyn. It would be possible, particularly if Don Sweeney and Co. had any designs on possibly retaining Nash beyond this season if he were to become a very good fit with David Krejci on the second line, for instance. But it still feels like a high price to pay for a player that could only be in Black and Gold for a couple of months when the B’s would much rather trade young forwards like Ryan Spooner, Frank Vatrano or Austin Czarnik if the right rental deal came along for them.
