Scott Howson Is Driving A Hard Bargain

"Rick Nash? Let me call my buddy who's an expert on Rick Nash."

Every day we're hearing more about whats teams are in or out of the Rick Nash Derby, and Darren Dreger reported that Carolina were the latest to back out after rejecting a deal that involved Jeff Skinner. After laughing for a few minutes at the thought of Scott Howson wanting Jeff Skinner in some sort of deal for Rick Nash, it made me think of what kind of offers Howson might be throwing around. There's rumours of Logan Couture, Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier. Howson has Nash on this massive pedestal if he's asking for young players who produce almost the same amount of points. Nash didn't get moved at the trade deadline because the price was too steep, and Howson apparently hasn't budged on that in the offseason.

All of this can be easily made sense of by this great analogy by PPP bro, @SkinnyPPPhish:

While Rick Nash is a pretty good player, he is not that easily moveable. His contract is a big hit at $7.8M (the 5th highest in the NHL), and his goals and points totals have been decreasing the past four years. Could he be better with a top centreman? No doubt. But so could most guys in the league. It's still a mystery why Nash signed that ridiculous extension in the first place (must be the money!), but to want to stay with a team that you became captain of pretty much by default and that has only made the playoffs once in 10 seasons (swept in the first round!) is not a good career move. 

Sure you can call Rick Nash loyal, but you would have to be talking about "2009 Rick Nash" that agreed to that extension as now when the team is struggling he wants to abandon ship. All the power to him for hating losing, but he should have realized three years ago that the words "Columbus" and "winning" don't go together when talking hockey. Scott Howson has been approaching teams for six months now trying to sell Rick Nash, but if I'm an NHL GM I'm not giving up a big piece of my future for him, so Howson needs to stop asking for HFBoards types of trades.

Nash's stats are inconsistent and his accolades only pop up when he's surrounded by greatness such as Olympic or national teams. I like Rick Nash, in fact, I've met him and he's a pretty cool guy, but Howson needs to lower his asking price because this big boy ain't moving for gold. Howson is already handicapped by the fact that other NHL GM's know Nash wants out of Columbus, and if this situation carries over to the next season, only the Blue Jackets will suffer because Nash's heart isn't with the team and it'll be a distraction.

Howson's smartest move is to field as many legitimate offers as he can and take the best one. Get the best package you can, not what you want. Howson needs to make his offers less of a joke and let the franchise move on. You don't have to kill another team in a deal trading Rick Nash, just make sure you win the trade and turn a page in Blue Jackets history.