Rick Nash has scored two goals in as many days. Usually, Nash breaks out in the beginning of the season, so this stretch could be a blessing for the New York Rangers heading into the playoffs.
The days of Rick Nash being a top goal scorer in the NHL are far behind us now. Nash has scored over 26 goals for the New York Rangers just once in his five year stint on Broadway. This came in 14-15, when he tallied 42 goals on the campaign.
Oddly enough for a guy who has managed to tally 20+ goals three times in his five year tenure at the “World’s Most Famous Arena,” Nash has only tallied 40 points in a season twice; in the lockout shortened 12-13 campaign–in what was a fantastic season for him–and in 14-15.
Nash can still be an effective player in all three zones, but the zone the Rangers need him to be most present in is the offensive zone, and he has done just that in his last two games.
Nash has scored twice in as many days, albeit on two goals that one can argue should have been kept out of the net. At the end of the day though, a goal is a goal, and that has to give Nash–who has all the pressure of his $7.8 million cap hit–some confidence.
Streaky, Streaky, Streaky…
In recent years, this year especially, Nash has scored all of his goals in streaks. From October 17th-November 8th, Nash scored seven goals in an 11 game span, which was one of the main reasons the Rangers got off to the start they did. Then from November 21st to January 14th, Nash scored another seven goals, this time in the span of 13 games.
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Then Nash hurt his groin on two different occasions. The drastic dip in production from the 32-year-old could partially be attributed to that, but Nash ended up scoring only four goals in his next 27 games.
Since Nash has scored in both of his last two games, expect him to go on a bit of a streak here again to finish off the regular season and to start the playoffs.
His Last Chance
What Nash is able to do in the remaining eight regular season games, as well as in the playoffs, will determine if he comes back to the Rangers next year, for better or worse.
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Nash has one more year on his contract and has a partial no-movement clause where he can make a list of 10 teams that he would accept a trade to. Trading Nash in the offseason would benefit the Rangers greatly, because not only does it clear a ton of cap space for a guy who does not score nearly as much as he once did, but it clears up a spot to protect either Michael Grabner, Oscar Lindberg or Jesper Fast in this offseason’s expansion draft.
If Nash plays well, the Rangers may be more likely to keep him, but his trade value would also go up. Their hand may be forced anyway by their contract situation, so they may move him even if they don’t want to.
If Nash continues to play lackluster offense, the return the Rangers could get on the open market may not be significant enough for them to want to move him.
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Regardless of any of this, Nash has only so many games left to prove to the Rangers and the rest of the NHL why he can still be an effective player in this league from an offensive standpoint. If you are a Rangers fan. either way, you want and need to see him succeed in the coming weeks.