With no movement to this point on the Rick Nash front, some fans are beginning to get impatient despite some excellent moves today by Scott Howson to improve the Blue Jackets‘ defense and scoring depth.
The problem is that Zach Parise and Ryan Suter remain unsigned. Until one or both of them move, teams that might be high on Nash (particularly the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes) will be waiting to see where each of the high profile free agents go.
Even if they aren’t certain about signing them (New York, for example, appears to have been out of the Parise sweepstakes), they want to see who DOES land them – particularly if one or both should go to a team within their division. Should that happen, it’s a classic game of one upsmanship. “You got that guy? Well, check out what WE’RE bringing to the table!”
If, as expected, both Parise and Suter make decisions on Monday, I would expect Nash to likely move within hours. Once that happens, expect to see Scott Howson take stock of his roster and then make any other moves he feels necessary to round it out before training camp.