What if Rick Nash won a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers?

What if Rick Nash and the Rangers won big in 2014?

Let’s take the 2014 Stanley Cup Final as starting point given that it is the closest the New York Rangers have got to lifting Lord Stanley since winning it back in 1993-94.

It was a long road to the Final which included two series that went seven-games in the opening two rounds, while their Eastern Conference Final match up against the Montreal Canadiens went six games.

That led to a showdown with the Kings and it is fair to say that the Finals got away from the Rangers before they ever really began. They lost Game 1 in Overtime, Game 2 in Double Overtime and they were shutout in Game 3, with a 3-2 win in Game 4 proving to be just a consolation.

Nash failed to record a single point  on 18 shots in the Stanley Cup Final and he tallied just 10 points (three goals, seven assists) during that postseason run, which is a woeful return for a player acquired to be the final piece in a championship-winning team.

That series against the Kings in particular arguably serves as the spark for the majority of criticism Nash receives for his inability to really turn it on and go on a tear in the postseason for the Rangers.  His playoff failures were epitomized by his inability to scored into an open net in double overtime in Game Five, a goal that would  have extended the series.

Four minutes later, Alec Martinez scored and the Kings won the Cup.

But, let’s flip this on its head now and pretend that Nash was lights out during the Finals and that the New York Rangers did indeed win the Stanley Cup Final in 2014.

How would that have changed Rick Nash’s legacy in The Big Apple?

For starters, Nash would have proved that not only could he come up clutch in the big moments during the regular season, but he also had the mentality and the strength of character to deliver the goods when it really mattered in the playoffs.

Also, winning their first Stanley Cup since 1993-94 may have inspired ownership to throw their chips into the middle of the table and fully commit to going all out and bolstering their roster with elite players in order to maximize their window and win more championships.

Going back to reality for a second, it is no secret that the Rangers failed to surround Nash with real high-end talent and that is one of the main reasons why they failed to both win in 2014, in addition to really making the most of their window to win.

So, by beating the Kings in 2014 to win the greatest prize in all of sports, the Rangers hierarchy decide to jump on the momentum by being aggressive in the free agency market, when the likes of Paul Stastny and Jarome Iginla were available, and giving their team a chance to repeat in 2014-15.

Nash, brimming with confidence after proving to himself and everyone else that he could rise to the occasion when it really mattered, would go on to dominate the playoffs again, guiding the Rangers past the Tampa Bay Lightning and into the 2015 Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks.

From there, a much more talented Rangers team would have at least pushed a loaded Chicago Blackhawks roster all the way to the wire, maybe even winning a second consecutive Stanley Cup and entering the conversation as one of the most dominant NHL teams in the 21st century.

And, as a result, Nash would have gone down as a franchise hero for his part in two historic postseason runs, thus earning him the reputation of being a dynamic game breaker.

Another wrinkle to consider here is the fact that should Nash have propelled the Rangers to back-to-back Stanley Cups, then that probably would have persuaded the front office to stick to task and keep on pursuing playoff success, thus ignoring the temptation to blow everything up and go down the road of a rebuild.

Nash would never have been traded to the Boston Bruins and could well have retired as a Ranger, cementing his status as one of the greatest players in franchise history and almost guaranteeing that his number would one day be raised to the rafters.

His final offensive numbers would have been padded out and his place in the rich tapestry of New York Rangers greats would have been assured. Just look at Mark Messier’s legacy after he put the team on his back during the historic 93-94 playoffs. And no, I am not comparing Nash to Messier before anyone jumps down my throat.

But, on the flip side of that, that outcome would mean there would be no glut of high-end draft picks, no Filip Chytil, no Lias Andersson, no Kaapo Kakko and no Artemi Panarin, although we would have one, maybe two Stanley Cups to boast about.

So all is fair in love and war, I guess.

Overall, Rick Nash’s legacy as a true New York Rangers great will always be tainted by the fact that he failed to come up big in the postseason and a win a Stanley Cup for the franchise.

Although he is tied for 27th on the NYR all-time goals list and was the first Ranger to score in the first four games of a season, Nash will always be a decisive figure among Blueshirts fans and his overall legacy as a Blueshirt will always be hotly debated.

It could have been all very different if he would have paraded down the Canyon of Heroes with a Stanley Cup, however.

But that is fantasy thought and we are instead left with the facts and forced to deal with the reality of thinking, what if?