Even if the Bruins miss out on the John Tavares sweepstakes after falling short in their quest for Ilya Kovalchuk on NHL Draft weekend, they may not have right wing Rick Nash as a fall-back option for their second-line wing vacancy.
Nash, 33, has notified all interested teams that he won’t be signing with anybody during the July 1 opening of NHL free agency and is going to take some time to decide whether he wants to keep playing. One of the reasons given was the desire to spend more time with his young family, but it was clear last spring that the concussions were also giving the big forward something to think about with his long-term future.
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Nash scored 21 goals and 34 points for the Rangers and Bruins last season and finished with three goals and six points in 11 games for Boston after arriving via the trade deadline.
Nash also dealt with a concussion that knocked him out for the final few weeks of the regular season and seemed to make him a bit more of a tentative player in the postseason, where he posted three goals, five points and was a minus-7 in 12 playoff games.
The Bruins and Nash’s representation had been in contact since the end of the regular season and Don Sweeney said he fully respected the player’s decision to really think things through this summer.
“Rick needs to take all the time necessary to make whatever decision he wants to make for him and his family. I was as honest as I could be,” said Sweeney. “I had been in touch with that group from day one. I respect the hell out of the decision that he’s made, whether or not that’s going to change between now and whenever...I still respect it. And you know, he’s been great with us, but he can take all the time necessary that he wants to take.”
Clearly, Sweeney hasn’t closed the book on Nash if he strikes out with some of the other players he’s pursuing. Perhaps there could be a better agreement in bringing the power forward back at a reduced rate. Still, the expectation is that the Bruins will also be in the running for other wing options in free agency (James van Riemsdyk or James Neal), or in trades ( Jeff Skinner, Wayne Simmonds and Milan Lucic) if they’re still looking to make a splash up front after Tavares finally makes his decision.
