Perhaps not as a complete surprise, speculation of a Rick Nash trade has circulated ever since the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs. The New York Post's Larry Brooks got things started with an article speculating a move to the St. Louis Blues. TSN's Bob McKenzie then put things into a higher gear, stating that he believed the Rangers will "at least consider" trading Nash. Blueshirt Banter was even informed by a reputable source that the concept of a trade to St. Louis might have some weight.

However, a source close to Nash's camp told Blueshirt Banter, in response to the St. Louis rumor as well as general Nash discussions, that he did not believe there was anything to get worked up over. "They are just rumors," he said.

That's not to say that the rumors and media reports were outright false, and the source implied that talks of a Nash trade heating up was not completely out of the question. But the implication was clear; NHL teams discuss a plethora of things with other teams and even considerably more internally. Most of those ideas and discussions never make it off the runway.

Henrik Lundqvist and Ryan McDonagh, and perhaps also Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello, are very obviously non-starters when it comes to potential offseason moves as the Rangers try to navigate the salary cap. Beyond that, Glen Sather - or is it Jeff Gorton now? - would not be doing his job if he didn't at least entertain discussions with other teams about Rick Nash just for the sake of leaving no stone unturned. But that won't be any different for Derek Stepan, Dan Girardi, Carl Hagelin, Derick Brassard, and so on. And most other teams will go through the same internal discussions with many of their players.

So yes, it seems likely that someone in the Rangers organization will broach the subject of seeing what the market is for Nash. Sather will probably not automatically send any emails from other GMs inquiring on Nash to his spam folder. There may come a time in the next few weeks where there is merit to the idea of Rick Nash being on the move. For now, however, they're "just rumors" and nothing more than that.