Much to the delight of Bruins fans everywhere, Don Sweeney and the B’s front office are “going for it” this season.
Boston shipped forwards Ryan Spooner and Matt Beleskey, prospect Ryan Lindgren, a 2018 first round pick and a 2019 seventh rounder to the Rangers on Sunday morning in exchange for six-time All-Star forward Rick Nash. Nash is one of the biggest names the Bruins have ever landed around time of a trade deadline, but it remains to be seen if the 33-year-old still has enough gas in the tank to be a legit difference-maker in the postseason.
Metro New York Sports Editor and confirmed puck head Joe Pantorno believes it was an excellent move for the B’s.
“Nash is very serviceable and will wind up with 25-ish goals this year,” Pantorno said. “He’s a great rental for Boston. Steep price, but definitely worth it in my opinion.”
One of the big beefs Rangers fans had with Nash during his time in Manhattan was that he never exactly lit it up during the postseason. Nash had five playoff runs with the Rangers and one playoff journey with the team that drafted him, the Blue Jackets, but only once registered over five goals in a single postseason. In 77 career playoff games, Nash has just 15 goals and 26 assists to his name.
“It’s a legit concern given his reputation of being a no-show in the playoffs,” Pantorno said. “But that was as one of the bell cows of the Rangers’ offense. He’s entering a Bruins team this is one of the best in the East where he can come in as a second or third-line winger and add scoring depth and support behind that first line. He doesn’t need to have a point per-game average in the postseason. If he can repeat his 2014-15 where he put up 14 points in 19 games, I think that’d be a perfect for Boston.”
Nash was the first overall pick in the 2002 NHL Draft and quickly became one of hockey’s top pure goal-scorers. In just his second season in the league, he popped in 41 goals. As recently as the 2014-15 season, Nash eclipsed the 40-goal mark during the regular season.
