The NHL Draft began last night with the usual suspects owning the top picks. The Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, and Columbus Blue Jackets have found themselves drafting in the top 5 too many times. They have whiffed on many picks over the last decade, with Columbus having the worst drafting record in the entire NHL.
Going into the draft, everybody knew that Columbus would be drafting a defenseman and a Rick Nash trade would be imminent. The CBJ drafted defenseman Ryan Murray, but has yet to pull the trigger on a Nash trade.
I will give you the lowdown on Ryan Murray and when/where will Rick Nash be traded.
Columbus drafted Ryan Murray, who played for the Everett Silvertips of the WHL, over a group of defensemen that includes Griffin Reinhart, Moran Reilly, and Hampus Lindholm.
Murray is only 18 years old, but has great leadership skills. He played for Canada in the recent World Championships. A couple defensemen drafted after Murray have a better two-way game at this point, but the leadership ability is coveted by a team who will be searching for a leader once they trade Nash.
Here is a video of NHL Network’s scouting analysis on Ryan Murray…
Nash could be traded this weekend, but you shouldn’t hold your breath. Over the last two years, I think every team in the NHL has been rumored to be trading for him. The San Jose Sharks is the current rumored team to be close to trading for Nash. The package Columbus would receive in return would include center Joe Pavelski and other compensation to sweeten the deal. This trade would fill a need on the Blue Jackets, but I say that sarcastically because they have a need at every position.
In the long run, it is hard to see Columbus coming out as a winner in any trade that would include Nash. There is no doubt when he gets traded to a better team, insane numbers will fill up the box score next to his name. Nash has always looked great in Olympic competition and in every All-Star game he played.
No matter where Nash winds up, he will get a standing ovation when he returns to Columbus to play against his former team.
The only trade the Blue Jackets made last night was with the Philadelphia Flyers. They traded three draft picks for goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. They needed help at goalie since Steve Mason can be a basket case in the net. Mathieu Garon had success splitting time with Mason a few years ago and GM Scott Howson is hoping that competition will bring out the best in Mason.
Let’s just hope this trade will turn out better than their trade with the Flyers last off-season. The ‘Jakub Voracek + others for Jeff Carter’ trade may go down as one of the worst trades this decade. Carter whined his way out of Columbus and the Blue Jackets traded him to the Los Angeles Kings for 20 cents on the dollar. Oh, by the way, the Kings won the Stanley Cup this year.
