The Bruins Get Their Man, Land Rick Nash For Players And Picks
Word broke last night from Elliotte Friedman that the Bs were the leader in the clubhouse to land the big catch of the trade deadline, Rick Nash. And as many of their fans slept in on Sunday morning, the Bruins went out and hooked their man.
The Bruins sent Ryan Spooner, Matt Beleskey, defense prospect Ryan Lindgren, a 2018 1st rounder and 2019 7th rounder to the New York Rangers for the 33-year-old goal-scoring forward. Also the Bruins will retain half of Beleskey’s salary while the Rangers will retain half of Nash’s salary.
The Bs lost just one player currently signed with the organization and they didn’t lose any of their top-tier prospects. The 1st round pick will likely be one of the last of the first round. And a 7th rounder is a 7th rounder.
So while I’m not gonna sit here and pretend I’ve been a huge Rick Nash guy over the years, I can’t say I have any issues with that haul. Premium trade targets come with a hefty price tag but that’s one I can easily live with. While Spooner was having a decent year, Nash is a significant upgrade to the David Krejci line both in size and talent. Beleskey was buried in Providence after his Bruins career just sort of petered out. While Lindgren may pan out to become a Top 4 guy in a few years, I’m more than OK with including him to go for it today.
Nash obviously isn’t as fast as he used to be (like every 33-year-old) but he can still snipe and he should slot in nicely with Krejci. He also plays a pretty solid 200′ game which means he ought fit in like a hand in a (hockey) glove on Bruce Cassidy’s team. Oh, and he’s playing for a new contract as well so he should be hungry out there. He didn’t have a reputation for rising in the playoffs while in New York but he won’t have that same pressure on him in Boston; he’ll just be one guy here, he won’t need to be “the guy”. Also, playing on a much better team could make a big difference.
The bottom line is this Boston Bruins team is better today than it was yesterday. They went out and did what they’ve been accused of not doing for decades—going all in for a Stanley Cup. Now they have Rick Nash and it’s championship or bust.
Let’s fucking goooooooooo!