NHL Rumors: Why San Jose Sharks Were Smart to Pass on Rick Nash for the Moment

The 2012 NHL draft has come and gone, and arguably the biggest surprise of the eventful two days was the fact that the Columbus Blue Jackets did not trade Rick Nash.

Nash has famously wanted out of Columbus, and the NHL draft seemed like the perfect opportunity for a team to acquire a premier NHL player while giving up a few notable draft picks to sweeten the pot for the Blue Jackets.

Evidently, the Blue Jackets GM, Scott Howson, was not interested in any of the trade talks with the slew of other teams flocking his way, and decided to hold on to Nash in hopes of striking a deal down the road.

The San Jose Sharks were among the teams making a serious push for Nash this past weekend, but nothing came of it.  

The presumed reason for no deal being struck was that Howson wants the Sharks' Logan Couture, and San Jose GM Doug Wilson thinks that is not a starting point, as he should.

With that notion still in everyone's mind, news broke this weekend that the Sharks were out of the running for Nash.  The San Jose Mercury News' David Pollak tweeted there were actually zero talks between Howson and Wilson currently going on:

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From 2,247 miles away, I'm hearing there are no Nash talks between #Sjsharks and CBJ, who still want Couture. No counter-proposal period.

— David Pollak (@PollakOnSharks) June 21, 2012"

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With the draft over, we can expect only extremely dedicated teams to come knocking on Howson's door for Nash's services.  That is now especially true knowing that Howson is not willing to settle for anything less than what he believes Nash is worth, which may be a little exaggerated at this point.

Good for Wilson to stand pat on what he is willing to give up for Nash, though.

Couture has the potential to be a Nash-like player in the future, and Wilson was not willing to bite on Howson's wishes.  

That does not mean Wilson did not try.  Presumably, the reason the Sharks were back in the Nash conversation was because they might have dangled Joe Pavelski in front of Howson—Columbus was evidently not budging from their stance.

Although Nash would have looked great alongside Joe Thornton on the first line, giving up that much for a player of Nash's caliber is still overkill—and by "much," I mean a package of Pavelski, Ryane Clowe and one of the Sharks' slew of young goalie prospects.

Couture should not even be mentioned, let alone in a package for Nash.

Howson seems to be on his high horse right now.  He understands he has the most desirable trade piece of the entire offseason, and he wants to showcase that to acquire the best package of players he can garner.

But maybe he is reaching too far here because he has yet to trade a player who deeply wants out of Columbus.

San Jose would be smart to wait, survey the teams that will remain serious contenders for Nash and see if anything has changed down the road with the caliber of players Howson wants in return.

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