Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch has put together some additional thoughts and comments on Rick Nash and his time with the Blue Jackets. Great read if you’ve got the time, but below are some of the key points he mentions.
Rather than pairing him with Brad Richards, Portzline thinks that Nash may be better suited to playing with Derek Stepan. The reasoning is that Nash needs the puck and Stepan is more likely to be playing a supporting role.
One unnamed player actually skated up to Nash before a face-off in a game and told him he had to get out of Columbus, and that more players were surprised it took him this long to make it happen. Ultimately it may have been his father that started things.
Tortorella will be the right coach, who can push Nash to do the things that he eased off in over in Columbus. Nash stopped playing in front of the net on the power play, and was pulled off the penalty kill altogether.
Finally, Portziline predicts a 40 goal season and 80 points for Nash…
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