Rick Nash will be a Leaf....Here's Why

It's time Ricky moved on

 
It's been 9 days since the Leafs won a game, yet somehow they are still hanging on to the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. As I write this, they are about to take on the Edmonton Oilers (the last team the Leafs actually beat mind you), a young, fast team that plays MUCH better at home then they do on the road (which seems to be true of all young teams).

While it's not exactly time to panic, it IS time to make some moves and really go for it with regards to trying to secure that elusive playoff spot and, at the same time, expedite the teams' growth into a playoff contender (because, as Brian Burke has stated, he doesn't just want to make the Playoffs, he wants to "bloody a nose or two" once they get into the big dance).

With the title of this blog, it should be clear what and whom I think they could and SHOULD go after but there is more to this then you think. Rick Nash should be a Leaf before the Trade Deadline but the deal I am proposing is a lot more radical then just getting him alone, and it would vastly re-shape both Columbus and Toronto so get ready to try and follow this mess I am about to propose. (The players listed below will have their salary and remaining years on their contracts included as well) Here goes;

To Columbus:

Tyler Bozak - Center - ($1.5, 2 years)
Nik Kulemin - Left Winger - ($2.35, Contract expires after this season)
Nazem Kadri - Left Winger - Currently in the AHL - ($1.72, 2 years)
Joey Crabb - Right Winger - ($750K, Contract expires after this season)
Luke Schenn - Defenceman - ($3.6, 5 years)
Mike Komisarek - Defenceman - ($4.5, 3 years)
Jerry D'Amigo - Currently in the AHL - ($1.08, 3 years)
Ben Scrivens - Currently in the AHL - ($600K, Restricted free agent after this year)
Marcel Mueller -Currently in AHL - ($1.1125, Restricted free agent after this year)
2012 First and 2nd Round Picks

Total Salary Cap hit:  $15.02 million (if Bozak, Kulemin, Kadri, Schenn, Komisarek and Scrivens all are called up to the big club after the deal) for this year, but much more salary flexibility and youth injected into the lineup.

Sorry boys, but you both will be much better off in Columbus, Ohio

To Toronto:

Rick Nash - Right Wing - ($7.8, 6 years)
Jeff Carter - Center ($5.273, 12 years)
Derrek Brassard - Center - ($3.2, 3 years)


Total Salary Cap hit: $16.273 committed to 3 players long term but it would greatly bolster the Leafs Top 6 in terms of Talent and give them the big, strong Center and Winger that they covet.

In better times with the Flyers, Carter would be the perfect fit for the Leafs Top Line

I realize that this has the makings of the biggest deal in NHL History, in the sense that it involves 12 players and 2 draft picks but if you are either team wouldn't you just jump all over this? Let's look at this from each side and see the pros and cons for each.

If you are the Columbus Blue Jackets, you are currently in last place in the NHL and going nowhere this season. Your two top players (Nash and Carter) are both available on the trade market (with one having openly asked to be dealt back in November and the other quietly giving the team a list of places he would be willing to allow them to deal him to, including Toronto). You have one of the highest payrolls in the NHL this season and you have a lot of money tied up in just a few players (mostly with Carter and Nash both being signed to deals that expire closer to to the year 2020).

If someone were to offer you ths chance to essentially start over by getting those massive deals off their books while re-stocking both their NHL roster with capable players (Bozak, Kulemin, Schenn and Komisarek) and potential NHL players (Kadri, D'Amigo, Mueller) as well as an upgrade over their current Goaltending situation (Mason and Curtis Sanford have been absolutely brutal this year), while also supplying you with a first and 2nd round pick in this coming draft, why WOULDN'T you make this deal?

 Luke has never seemed to comfortable in the media driven hockey Mecca of Toronto...

You keep a decent team on the ice (while allowing yourself the chance to secure the #1 pick this summer and kickoff a badly needed re-build of the team), you give yourself salary cap room (which may be even more important given the fact that the new Collective Bargaining Agreement may have a lower Salary Cap number per team after September) and you have picked up some decent young players as well to bolster your soon to be extremely young line up on the ice in the coming years. You would be getting 2 decent NHL Defenders in Schenn and Komisarek (that should help solidify their defense for the next couple of years and they are a vast improvement over what they currently have on their blueline), 2 solid players in Bozak and Kulemin and a trio of young players who could all range between the good to very good range once given a real crack at the NHL.

This picture kind of summarizes why the Blue Jackets need to look for some goaltending depth

In my mind, the Blue Jackets would be all over this and I could hardly blame them. On the other hand, as much as it would hurt to deal this many pieces off your roster, if you are the Leafs, you have to do this for a variety of reasons.

If the old adage of whomever it is that gets the best player in a trade wins it, then the Leafs would EASILY win this proposed deal, hands down. Carter and Nash are already former NHL All Stars and Brassard is widely considered to be an up and coming young player with potential. While this move would vastly change the Leafs Defence, Keith Aulie is ready to step in now and deserves a chance to play regularly in the NHL. Their are at least another 3 guys on the Toronto Marlies who are either close or just chomping at the bit to make the move to the Leafs right now that would allow the team to make this kind of a blockbuster, "I'm ALL IN" type of move that would free up playing time on the big club.

Yes, this deal would mean a couple of large contracts that you would have to absorb as a team but with the kind of money the Leafs make, if things don't pan out, they can always buy their way out of this kind of mistake (but this would not be a mistake). Carter needs a change of scenery and he is the ideal #1 center the Team is looking for. Pairing him with Nash and Kessel would only rejuvenate both of the Columbus players coming over to Toronto and make the Leafs top 2 lines incredibly potent. The 2nd line would now be Grabovski between MacArtur and Lupul, pushing Brassard to the 3rd line with Lombardi and Connolly. That's 3 solid lines right there. Here's the full breakdown for both teams;

These two could both be Leafs if......

Blue Jackets

Forwards
Prospal-Vermette-Umberger
Johansen-Bozak-Kulemin
Kadri-Paulsson-D'Amigo
Crabb-Letestu-Mueller

Derek Dorsett Extra

Defence
Wisniewski-Komisarek
Tyutin-Schenn
Johnnson-Nikitin

Grant Clitsome (horrible name) as the extra


Goalies
Steve Mason the Starter
Ben Scrivens as the back up



Leafs

Forwards

Kessel-Carter-Nash
Lupul-Grabovski-MacArtur
Lombardi-Connolly-Brassard
Brown-Steckel-Armstrong

Boyce Extra

Defence
Phaneuf-Aulie
Liles-Fransen
Gardiner-Gunnarsson

Korbinian Holzer or Matt Lashoff Extra


Goalies
Reimer Starter
Gustavsson backup

As far as I can tell, this would be a win-win for both teams. It would be a record setting deal that could be the biggest franchise altering move for both teams in terms of their futures, but sometimes you just have to go for it (and sometimes you just have to start over). Both of these teams need to make a move. Columbus has the "for sale" sign up on just about everything they have. Its up to Brian Burke to make sure he pays the right price to get exactly what the team needs to become the kind of contenders that he and everyone else in this city has been craving them to become since 1967.