New York Rangers Must Explore Trading Rick Nash

Following the New York Rangers’ embarrassing Round 1 exit at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins, it is clear that this Rangers core is coming to the end of its road. GM Jeff Gorton will have his work cut out for him as he tries to get new blood onto a roster that is up against the cap. One player who will come under intense scrutiny, and rightfully so, is Rick Nash.

Nash came to Broadway in the summer of 2012 and with him came high hopes. Certainly he has been one of the better players on the Rangers’ roster in the regular season. He is the only one who has scored 40 goals, something he achieved last season with 42, and the only one with the potential to do so right now. He carries a cap hit of $7.8 million so it won’t be easy to move the 31-year-old winger, but it’s something that must be discussed.

There is a limited no-trade clause in Nash’s contract, where he can block a trade to up to 12 teams which will limit the Rangers. Surely most of those 12 teams will be ones with the cap room to bring him on board. They will also be the teams that aren’t a threat of making the playoffs.

To lay the blame of the Rangers’ shortcomings at the feet of Nash wouldn’t be fair. To be sure, he must carry some of the responsibility. In 61 playoff games with the Rangers he has just 11 goals and 22 assists. He did have a couple of big moments in the series against the Penguins, including a short-handed goal, but it wasn’t enough. Now the Rangers find themselves evaluating their roster in April instead of June.

Trading Nash would leave the team with a gaping hole. Two-way forwards who can score 40 goals in a season aren’t easy to come by. The Rangers desperately need the cap space, however, as they face raises for restricted free agents Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller. The Rangers would probably love to jettison the contracts of Marc Staal and Dan Girardi, who carry an average salary of $5.7 million and $5.5 million, respectively. Both have no movement clauses, but the Rangers must find a way to get at least one of them to waive it and then find a trade partner.

Gorton will face nearly impossible tasks this offseason. He needs to try and clear some cap space, and the most obvious contracts to shed are those of Nash, Staal and Girardi. If only it were that easy. This could be the last offseason the Rangers have to reload for a shot at the Stanley Cup, as the window is closing fast. Trading Nash might be the best option to ensure they don’t see the window shut completely.