icedog97

"Penguins Hockeybuzz Blog"

Pittsburgh, PA • United States • 48 Years Old • Male

Nash: Is Main Objective to Raise Return for Carter?

The world of hockey rumors and trades is a fascinating one.

Today, so many rumors circulate in cyberspace that...

"It's hard to recognize the real thing
It comes along once in a while
Like a rare and precious metal beneath a ton of rock
It takes some time and trouble to separate from the stock
You sometimes have to listen to a lot of useless talk" *

When I first heard about Rick Nash being mentioned in trade rumors, I thought it was one of those 'useless talk' scenarios. A rumor generated by cyberspace.

We have come to realize in the last week that the Nash rumors are, in fact, true. Scott Howson has indeed been talking to other teams about what it would take to get Rick Nash from the Blue Jackets.

To be honest, taken at face value, it's a little startling to me.

It think most people feel Nash is a 'franchise player' and as badly as this year has turned out in Columbus, it would seem counter productive for Howson to trade such a player unless he was going to get back enough franchise rebuilding material to make it worth the cost.

But if you look at the dynamics of the situation, and are at least open to the idea that Howson is a better planner/GM than his signings in the 2011-12 off season would suggest (to date), you might be inclined to follow along with this scenario:

WHAT IF...

Howson went to Nash and they had a conversation that went something like this...

Howson: Rick, do you want to stay here?

Nash: Yes

H: Ok. We know Jeff is probably not going to find happiness here, but I'm having some trouble getting a good return for him, can you help me out?

N: Sure...how?

H: I need you to work with me to let the word out that you are OK with being traded to a handful of teams. These teams are either in the running for a cup this year or have the resources to make a deal that would help us in the future. I want to try and negotiate deals with them...for you...but I am setting the asking price higher than I expect anybody to pay. The idea is that while we are setting the market value for you, we are also raising the market value for Jeff. We'll make a deal for you look very possible...but we won't let it happen. Hopefully, one of these clubs will see that Jeff offers some of what you offer, at a slightly lower cost, and they will be willing to make a move. This way, I think we can get back what we lost when we acquired Jeff, and next year we'll be ready to make a real run at the playoffs.

N: Ok, that sounds good to me.

So, is this another one of those cyberspace scenarios?

YOU BETCHA!

But...if you look at the numbers for these players over the years, and if you consider how both players offer VERY SIMILAR goal scoring abilities, relative to their costs, I think you have to agree this is an entirely plausible scenario.

If I were Howson, I'd be reluctant to trade Nash...but I would certainly want to move Carter. If I were able to use Nash to convince other owners of Carter's value, I would certainly do that.

I don't think Nash is going anywhere but I am almost certain Carter will go somewhere.

Here are their stats for comparison purposes.



Thanks for reading!!!


*RUSH lyrics are property and copyright of their owners.
"Grand Designs" lyrics provided for educational purposes and personal use only.

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