After winning a Stanley Cup in 2011 and failing to find the back of the net in the postseason in 2012, the natives in Boston are expecting big things from their hockey team this offseason. However, Bruins fans shouldn’t expect GM Peter Chiarelli to sell the farm just to land Rick Nash, undoubtedly the biggest free agent-to-be in the summer.
According to CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty, the Blue Jackets are looking for a package of Tyler Seguin or Milan Lucic and Doug Hamilton, the ninth overall pick in the 2011 NHL draft. However, in a recent radio interview, Harrerty gave his two cents and shot down the notion that the Bruins would we willing to trade away two key components of their team in order to land Nash.
“It’s not very real right now; I think they’re asking for way too much,” said Haggerty. “They want a ton, and rightfully so; he’s a franchise player. They also feel like at the draft next month in Pittsburgh there will be a lot of interest in him, and they’ll probably be able to get a couple of teams into a bidding war.”
Haggerty also pointed out how some of the cons in acquiring Nash, particularly if it would come at the cost of Lucic.
“He doesn’t play as physical as Lucic does. He had half as many hits as Lucic did (last season), he’s not the fore-checker Lucic is, he’s not the fighter that Lucic is, he’s not the fearsome intimidator on the ice that Lucic is. You also have to wonder about a guy that has played in Columbus for nine years on a crappy team, and never complained to leave before now… As far as the NHL playoffs go, he hasn’t had much experience at all and you wonder what he’d be able to bring at that time of the year.”
Those are all valid points, but Lucic, albeit four years younger than Nash, has only had one-30 goal season thus far in his brief four-year NHL career. Nash, on the other hand, has scored 30 or more goals in five consecutive seasons and has also reached the 40-goal mark twice. And keep in mind, Nash accomplished all of this with very little around him in Columbus.
It’s way too early to predict where Nash will go, but you can expect the Bruins to be in the mix when the bidding starts.
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