Columbus Blue Jackets managed to retain Rick Nash for now -NHL Update
After weeks of rumours and speculations, Columbus Blue Jackets were successful in retaining their superstar captain, Rick Nash, past the National Hockey League (NHL) trade deadline which came to an end on February 27, 2012.
The speculations and rumours became facts when Columbus general manager, Scott Howson, himself discussed about how Nash was wanting to be traded and according to him, the sooner it was, the better.
It was also learned that Nash was looking for a trade quite a while back, sometime in January according to latest reports, but Columbus had been negotiating with the player ever since and have finally managed to keep him on, that is for this season.
Obviously if Columbus would compromise and give up their face of the organisation, they would definitely need something in return, which just was not possible right then and there.
"He approached us and asked us to consider trading him. We agreed to accommodate his request as long as we could get a deal that could provide us with cornerstone pieces that could help us compete for a Stanley Cup championship in the coming years," Howson
said. "It did not happen by 3 p.m."
One of the other reasons believed to have been a hurdle in trading off the captain was the high asking price not only by Nash himself with his $7.8 million a year contract, but the team was wanting something as well.
Disrupting the team chemistry was also another reason, but those teams with the extra salary cap space could certainly be the frontrunners in acquiring the player once the season comes to an end.
"I had many teams express there would be a lot more interest (this summer)," Howson added. "I think teams are reluctant for two reasons at this stage (to trade); No. 1 is salary-cap space and No. 2 is disrupting your team.”
Columbus Blue Jackets are at the bottom of the league at the moment and have been for multiple seasons now. As they focus on rebuilding the team and making it one of the top competitors in future seasons, not having Nash in the scene will certainly be something
they eventually have to adjust to.
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