Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Rumours: Rick Nash to Leafs Unlikely Before Deadline

According to TSN's panel on Insider Trading, there are seven teams who should be credited with a serious interest in acquiring Rick Nash.

The Vancouver Canucks, the Philadelphia Flyers and the St. Louis Blues are three franchises who would like to add Nash, but are probably long shots due to salary cap concerns as well as (un)availability of assets.

The current frontrunners are apparently the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers.

The San Jose Sharks and the Toronto Maple Leafs are somewhere in between.

There are four factors which may have an impact on whether or not Nash comes to Toronto.

1. Availability and quality of assets compared to other suitors.

In a tweet, Darren Dreger of TSN stated that Columbus will want young roster players as prominent pieces in any Rick Nash deal.

It is no surprise that the Blue Jackets are also in dire need of a legitimate starting goaltender.

The Canucks, though they are an extremely unlikely destination for Nash, have Cory Schneider and Cody Hodgson to offer up as centrepieces in a deal for Nash.

The Kings, currently the favourites in the Rick Nash sweepstakes, have Jonathan Bernier and Jack Johnson to dangle.

The Rangers don't have a goalie to offer, but they have quality young players including Michael Del Zotto and Chris Kreider who are enticing.

The Leafs would likely have to give up Luke Schenn, Nazem Kadri and perhaps even Joe Colborne. A high pick would also likely be included in the deal.

Whether those other teams are willing to part with said assets is only partially relevant. The fact of the matter is that there are teams out there who could prepare better offers than whatever the Leafs would be willing or able to give up.

Lopsided trades for big names like the deals for Ilya Kovalchuk and Dion Phaneuf simply don't happen too often. Nash will not leave Columbus if the trade heavily favours the other team.

2. Salary issues

Rick Nash is signed for six more years after the current season, with an annual cap hit of $7.8 million.

The Leafs would obviously have to move some contracts to acquire his, especially since key players like Cody Franson and Mikhail Grabovski are pending free agents.

A contract as hefty and lengthy as Nash's could potentially handcuff a team later on. Taking it on may not be in the Leafs' best interests.

3. Is Toronto even on the list?

Toronto may or may not be on Nash's shortlist of teams he would be willing to go to. At this point, most of the chatter out there is speculation.

The Leafs are a playoff team or a borderline playoff team, depending on who you ask. Nash would clearly prefer to win a Stanley Cup sooner rather than later, so it really comes down to whether he likes the direction the organization is heading.

Which team would give him the best chance of winning? Which team would treat him like the go-to guy that he is?

Could he stand out with guys like Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul and Dion Phaneuf on the team?

4. No rush for Columbus to deal

There are currently only a handful of teams in the running for Nash. Others (twenty-something others) would certainly be interested, but teams like the Detroit Red Wings or the Boston Bruins are currently clicking very well.

The Bruins, for the most part, are playing like one would expect the defending Cup champs to play while the Wings are, well, the Wings.

Assuming both teams go on deep playoff runs, there will be no need to fix what ain't broke. Only a complete meltdown would cause either team to even consider blowing up their respective rosters.

The Blue Jackets don't need to add any pieces before the deadline and Nash isn't a pending UFA who could walk on July 1st. There is no friction between Columbus and its star winger.

In fact, Nash could stay with the Jackets and we could go through this drama all over again in twelve months.

There is no hurry for Columbus to trade their captain. It doesn't hurt for them to take some calls because they're getting an idea of what he's worth on the trade market.

They could undoubtedly get more during the off-season when more teams are willing to make blockbuster trades and also when teams are more conscious of what their organizational needs are.

It would take a mind-blowing deal for Rick Nash to be traded before this year's trade deadline and the Leafs aren't really in a position to do so.