Rick Nash may be calling it quits in the NHL, and should he, it will change the approach for a lot of teams this NHL offseason.
As July 1, 2018, and NHL free agency approaches, one of the big names people were keeping an eye on was Rick Nash, who may or may not be returning to Boston with the Bruins. The former New York Ranger and Columbus Blue Jacket is one of the top names on the unrestricted free agent board, and the veteran winger was rumored as being pursued by a number of teams— as many as eight had been speculated. To say he's gotten a lot of interest would put it mildly.
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But, those teams interested were just told by Nash's camp, they were going to have to work around the winger who won't be making a decision on his future by July 1, 2018, and may not come back to the NHL at all.
Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the 34-year old forward has informed teams he is still weighing his options and doesn’t want to hold up any other plans they may have to work around him. It's a classy thing to do on Nash's part but it could send ripples through NHL free agency. Nash was Plan A and Plan B for a few teams.
Nash has had concussion issues over his memorable NHL career. Those issues are not a secret. But, they weren't believed to be something that would stop him from playing next season. Clearly, he's having pause.
The Bruins were interested in bringing Nash back (especially if they don't land John Tavares), the Blue Jackets were interested in having him return to the franchise and there were rumblings the New York Rangers might be kicking tires. All of those teams will now need to make other plans and should Nash choose to return, hopefully, he doesn't do so well into the summer when teams have little cap room left to make a fair deal work.