Rick Nash Traded to New York Rangers
The wait is finally over–Rick Nash is being traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the New York Rangers.
Darren Dreger of TSN is reporting that the trade is in progress.
EDIT: Dreger now reports the terms of the deal: Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first-round 2013 draft pick.
Dubinsky has always been part of the Rangers since he went pro in 2005-06 following his 2004 drafting by New York. He’s been on the New York roster since 2006-07 and had his best season to date in 2010-11, scoring 54 points in 77 games and adding 100 penalty minutes.
Anisimov is another Rangers faithful like Dubinsky and has been with the team since 2008. Also like Dubinsky, he was drafted by the Rangers in 2006. His best season was also 2010-11: 44 points in 82 games and 20 penalty minutes.
Erixon was originally drafted by Calgary in 2009, but refused to sign with the Flames. Calgary still held his rights and traded them to the Rangers in 2011 just before the draft. He spent most of 2011-12 with the AHL, where he scored 33 points in 52 games.
Columbus is also sending over a conditional third-round pick (if the Rangers make the Stanley Cup Final, the Blue Jackets get it back) and Steve Delisle in order to balance the books and keep the Blue Jackets under the limit for contracts.
The Rangers were always among Nash’s list of six teams that he would be alright with going to via trade. But Columbus’ general manager Scott Howson had such high demands for Nash that many of the other teams on the wish list ended up withdrawing their interest. For example, Logan Couture was always a non-negotiable insistence for a possible Columbus-San Jose trade, but the Sharks wanted to hold on to him and his potential. The demands for the Boston Bruins were considered very high as well, including combinations of names like Tyler Seguin, Milan Lucic and Dougie Hamilton.
Nash first expressed interest in a trade just before the 2012 trade deadline in February, a few months after Columbus put together the worst 15-game start to a season since the Ottawa Senators’ inaugural season in 1992-93.
