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With Rick Nash currently on a tear and the Rangers, not on a tear, it’s time to look at where Nash may land as his trade stock goes through the roof.

I assess his trade value as a late 1st with a solid prospect to maybe a pair of seconds and a good prospect. It all depends upon his play as the season continues closer to the trade deadline. The better he plays, the more the Rangers can command.

And obviously, theres a lot of appeal for Rick Nash. He’s offensively gifted, has a large frame, yet can still fly by defenders. He’s extremely defensively responsible. He’s a leader in the club house and has been part of several playoff pushes. Nash has a ton going for him.

To start this off, in any deal the Rangers make, the team will have to eat half of Nash’s $7.8 million contract, meaning that any team that takes him will have to have $3.9 million in cap space open.

Now Rick Nash has a say in where he’s going, as he’s allowed to give a list of 12 teams he would go to. Some of these teams may not be there. The Ranger’s have not asked him to put a list together as of yet.

Okay, so potential landing spots:

The Anaheim Ducks – Currently the Ducks sit at 22nd in the league in Goals per game and 30th in shots per game. Rick Nash, can help bolster both of these categories, not to mention could you imagine a Nash-Getzlaf-Perry line? I mean even putting him with Rikard Rakell gives you two lines that are straight up dangerous. The Winnipeg Jets – The Jets are the without a doubt the best Canadian team this season. They are loaded with young stars headlined by Patrick Laine, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor. Adding Rick Nash could really solidify their top 6, giving the Jets another extremely reliable forward. The San Jose Sharks – The Sharks are about middle of the pack at 2.87 goals per game, while fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Again, adding Rick Nash could bolster that. Not to mention, Nash is basically besties with Joe Thornton. They played on the same line for Team Canada (when NHLers represented their countries (RIP)) and for HC Davos in Switzerland, during both lockout years:

(Also, throwing this in, those advertisements on European Jerseys drive me bananas. Like the HC Davos jerseys, not that bad, but the ads all over them ruin everything. Legit turns a C+ jersey into an F-. I wish i could go lower than that…maybe a F— (the rare triple F minus).)

4) The Columbus Blue Jackets – Okay I know, he wanted out a couple years ago, but the Blue Jackets are actually good now. And plus they could really use a scorer like Nash in their top 6, especially with guys on IR like Cam Atkinson and Brandon Dubinsky. Not only that, but the Blue Jackets would have the cap for him. From Nash’s perspective, it would be a short stint and would help to remove the “I want out, trade me to the Ranger’s” off of his legacy. He is, after all, the franchise leader in points and goals.

Teams that may go after Rick Nash but I think won’t –

Nashville – Nash going to Nashville would set up perfect corny headlines, but I don’t see it happening right now. Nashville would have to move guys in order to make cap room for Nash’s contract.

Los Angeles – I really think that LA’s main need comes at defense. Although they have the cap room to fit Nash, I think they’ll use that flexibility to make a move for a Dman.

St.Louis – The Blues are right up against the cap with only 99k free. Trading for Nash would be extremely difficult to do and would require multiple moves.