NHL Trade Rumors: Which Contenders Need to Trade for Rick Nash?

Columbus Blue Jackets star forward Rick Nash doesn't have a problem waving the no-trade clause in his contract if the team wants to trade him, according to Pro Hockey Talk.

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“The city of Columbus deserves a winner and deserves a good product on the ice. If it comes to that — like you said, all speculation — but if they don’t want me here, they want to move me? I’m not going to do something where it’s going to hurt the franchise just because I have that in my contract.”

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The Blue Jackets spent a lot of money and made some bold moves in the summer, two of which included signing defenseman James Wisniewski to a huge long-term contract and trading for Philadelphia Flyers center Jeff Carter.

Neither move has paid off thus far and Columbus currently has the worst record in the NHL. The team has to move their biggest star and upgrade its serious weaknesses, one of which is goaltending.

So which contenders should make a play for Rick Nash?

Well, there are several teams that could dramatically improve their chances of making a deep playoff run with the star power forward, so let's look at three of those teams.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks are the perfect trade partner for the Blue Jackets for two major reasons.

First, Vancouver needs a tough power forward that can score goals like Nash because they are a soft team that cannot beat the toughest teams in the NHL such as the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers in a seven-game series.

Second, the Blue Jackets have a serious need at goaltender and the Canucks have three of them that can excel at the NHL level; Cory Schneider, Roberto Luongo and top prospect Eddie Lack.

Nash's salary cap hit is huge, $7.8 million, which makes any team thinking about acquiring him weigh the pros and cons of losing some salary cap flexibility.

Luongo has the biggest cap hit of any of the Canucks goalies, but he has a no trade clause, and to go to a terrible team like Columbus, it's unlikely that he would waive it.

There are however, enough players on both teams to make a trade fit under the salary cap rules. Nash would dramatically improve the Canucks, and it would be foolish for them not to try and acquire him.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a good team but they are missing one star player that could make them a perennial playoff team going forward.

Nash is a huge physical presence on the ice that would add some toughness to the Maple Leafs lineup and give them another solid goal-scorer to go along with winger Phil Kessel.

The level of talent in Toronto is greater than what Nash is playing with in Columbus, and the thought of how good the star winger could be with top-tier players around him is exciting to think about.

In a major hockey market with a dedicated and passionate fan base, Nash would thrive in the Toronto atmosphere and would make the Maple Leafs a top Eastern Conference team for many years.

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings are a veteran team that doesn't have a young player capable of being an offensive superstar that's at the NHL level right now.

Rick Nash would be a tremendous player for Detroit to build their team around as Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk begin to age and their production goes down.

The Red Wings have about $5 million in salary cap space right now and if they used some or all of it to make a move for Nash they would become the team to beat in the Western Conference this season.

Detroit has some tremendous prospects that the Blue Jackets would want, but it will be interesting to see if the Red Wings are willing to trade any of them, whether it's for Nash or another star.

Follow Nicholas Goss on Twitter for constant NHL news and analysis. Follow @NicholasGoss35.

Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins featured columnist for Bleacher Report and was the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston.