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New York Rangers: The Ever-Growing Rick Nash Trade Tree

By Conor Power

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 12: Rick Nash #61 of the New York Rangers and Matt Calvert #11 of the Columbus Blue Jackets collide as Jack Johnson #3 of the Blue Jackets looks on at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 12: Rick Nash #61 of the New York Rangers and Matt Calvert #11 of the Columbus Blue Jackets collide as Jack Johnson #3 of the Blue Jackets looks on at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 29: K’Andre Miller #79 of the New York Rangers checks Erik Haula #56 of the New Jersey Devils in Game Six of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 29, 2023, in New York, New York. The Rangers defeated the Devils 5-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 29: K’Andre Miller #79 of the New York Rangers checks Erik Haula #56 of the New Jersey Devils in Game Six of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 29, 2023, in New York, New York. The Rangers defeated the Devils 5-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The Draft Picks

So if you’re following along, on the Rangers side of things there are 3 assets I have not touched on. The 2013 3rd from the original Nash deal, and the two picks the Rangers got back from Boston. That’s 2013 3rd, 2018 1st, and a 2019 7th-round pick. I think it is only right that we start with the 7th and work out way from there.

That 2019 7th was used to select Massimo Rizzo. If you’ve been following the league recently, you may recognize that name as the prospect the Carolina Hurricanes were supposed to trade to Philadelphia to reacquire Anthony DeAngelo. That is correct, the Rangers traded the pick for a 7th in 2018 that they used to select Riley Hughes. Hughes is still on the Rangers reserve list, but he is not setting the NCAA alight at Northwestern.

Moving on to the 2018 1st, which was also traded. That pick was used by the Ottawa Senators to select Jacob Bernard-Docker. But the Rangers traded that and a 2nd to move up to pick number 22 in 2018 where they selected defenseman K’Andre Miller. Miller is quickly becoming one of the biggest assets the Rangers have after a great breakout year for the Minnesotan defenseman. That’s 2 defenders you can trace back to this Nash deal.

Remember that I skipped over the 2013 3rd round pick that came with Nash from Columbus? Well, that was used to pick up Pavel Buchnevich. Buch had a great career in New York before he was traded to St Louis a few seasons ago. He’s been a productive member of that Blues roster, but they haven’t quite reached the same heights as they were achieving before he arrived.

This 2nd round pick was used to select Elias Salomonsson. While the jury is still out on this Swedish right-shot defenseman, it is important to note that this pick was also traded away, and we’ll get to where this was dealt to in a little bit, but just know that Salomonsson was not picked by the Rangers.

Blais was obviously sent back to St Louis at the trade deadline in the most recent season in the deal that saw Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola come over. So, in a way, you can argue that the Rick Nash deal more than a decade ago had a direct effect on the 2023 NHL trade deadline for the New York Rangers in terms of what they had available to do. That’s kind of crazy to think about.

There’s one more thing I should touch on, but I need to mention that this is really shoe-horned and forced. There’s another part of this because there was an aspect of this deal that was of no major value but is still linked through this player. So, let’s jump into that. If you would like to discount this because it was not a major piece in this deal, I understand, but I thought I should show this anyway.

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