The Winnipeg Jets have a lot of wingers, but they are missing a scoring winger of a particular skillset. Rick Nash fulfills these needs and does with massive amounts of skill that has been on display since he came into the league as an 18 year old.
What would it take to get Nash away from the New York Rangers? He is an expiring contract and he is a very good forward. While rental prices might be high, the Jets could offer either a second and Nic Petan or a straight first for Nash and see where it gets them. Because there has not been very many trades this year to judge the prices at the deadline, it is hard to say where the market it at right now.
As for Nash himself, he still drives play for the New York Rangers and has a positive CorsiRel. He would fit in alongside either Patrik Laine or Nikolaj Ehlers as he can handle the job of digging the puck off the boards more than those two, however he is not a power forward. His skillset is more big guy with skill and that makes him a very good player.
With the Rangers selling and the Jets buying, Nash is naturally one of the players the Jets would be interested in. He is a very good player, he is a pure rental meaning there is no long-term salary implications for the Jets. I do not know what the pro-rated amount for his cap hit is at the deadline and how that affects the Jets plans. They might be interested in Nash like Darren Dreger says they are, but be cautious about acquiring him because of the salary cap implications. Nash’s contract might make it hard to add multiple pieces like the Jets allegedly want to.
Rick Nash is a trade option for the Jets. While acquiring him would be a massive boost for their offence and give them one more safety valve against injury, it could also hamper their cap space when it comes to acquiring another defenceman which is a position of greater need for the Jets.
The Jets look to be buyers at the deadline and it looks like Kevin Cheveldayoff wants to make some major moves. One of those moves might be to trade for Rick Nash. If he does, it would improve the Jets and probably not cost too much.
