NHL Trade Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs Must Avoid Rick Nash at All Costs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are interested in Columbus Blue Jackets superstar winger Rick Nash, but general manager Brian Burke must avoid a Nash trade at all costs if the Leafs are to have a healthy future.

Nash is a tremendous player but he doesn't address the Leafs' No. 1 need, which is a top line, playmaking center.

With Mikhail Grabovski's future uncertain because him and the team have yet to reach a contract extension for next season, the Leafs cannot afford to spend big money on Nash and leave their center depth in serious trouble if Grabovski leaves in free agency this summer.

Not only would Nash cost the Leafs a lot of young talent in terms of prospects and NHL talent, his gigantic contract has a $7.8 million salary cap hit for six more seasons.

If the Leafs were going to acquire a young star with a massive contract, then they would be smart to target Carolina Hurricanes star center Eric Staal instead of Nash.

Given Leafs general manager Brian Burke's normal reluctance to do trades at the deadline because the price is too high, I cannot see Nash joining Toronto before Monday. The Leafs will not part with young defenseman Jake Gardiner, who is already playing a lot of minutes and could be a future captain of the team. 

The last thing Burke should do is trade some of his defensive depth when the Leafs are second to last in penalty killing with a 76.3 percent success rate.

With the Leafs' goaltending situation a real problem, if Burke is to make a trade before the deadline, it should be for a goaltender. James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson have not played well this month between the pipes for Toronto.

The New York Islanders are working toward signing veteran goalie Evgeni Nabokov to an extension right now, but if that deal doesn't progress over the weekend, then the Leafs would be smart to make a deal for the Russian netminder.

The Leafs have several needs to address at the deadline, but Nash would not fill many of them. The team is better off finding another goaltender if they aren't going to make a deal until Monday afternoon.