NHL Trade Buzz: Rangers send Nash to Boston, may make more moves

Welcome to the NHL Trade Buzz. There is one day remaining until the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline (Monday, 3 p.m. ET). Rick Nash was traded to the Boston Bruins by the New York Rangers on Sunday. Who will be next to leave Broadway? The Columbus Blue Jackets don't appear ready to pull a big trade. Here's a look around the League at the latest deadline doings:

New York Rangers

Now that the Rangers have traded forward Rick Nash
to the Boston Bruins
and forward Michael Grabner
to the New Jersey Devils
, who's next?
The most speculation swirls around defenseman Ryan McDonagh, the Rangers captain, and forward Mats Zuccarello. Each has one more season left on his contract.
McDonagh, 28, has 96 games of experience in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, going as deep as the Final in 2014. He could help a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning go for the Cup or one like the Florida Panthers try to make the playoffs.
Zuccarello, 30, has 43 points (10 goals, 33 assists) in 61 games this season and 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists) in 60 career playoff games.

The Rangers also could trade center David Desharnais, 31, a pending unrestricted free agent. He has 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 51 career playoff games.
Already the Rangers have added assets for the future, including a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, a second-rounder in 2018, a seventh-rounder in 2019 and two defense prospects: Ryan Lindgren and Yegor Rykov.
The Bruins selected Lindgren in the second round (No. 49) and the Devils selected Rykov in the fifth round (No. 132) in 2016.
The Rangers (27-30-5, 59 points) are last in the Metropolitan Division, and eight points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, entering their game against the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, MSG, FS-D, NHL.TV).
One player the Rangers won't trade: goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. He turns 36 on Friday and hasn't won the Stanley Cup, but isn't interested in pursuing it in another jersey. Lundqvist, who has spent his entire NHL career with the Rangers, said he hadn't been asked to waive any clause in his contract.
"I love this franchise and everything they do -- everything they do for the players, everything they've given me over almost 13 years now," Lundqvist said. "I just can't see myself anywhere else. I really can't. I hope this is something that I will learn from and the rest of us will learn from, what we're going through right now, and I hope we're going to be a competitive team really soon."

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets brought back forward Mark Letestu on Sunday,
acquiring him from the Nashville Predators
(who earlier acquired him from the Edmonton Oilers) for a fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft. Letestu, 33, who can skate on the third or fourth line and both special teams, played in Columbus from 2011-15.
But there was no Rick Nash reunion, and it sounds like there won't be a blockbuster.
"We really want to make the playoffs, and it's our goal," general manager Jarmo Kekalainen told the Blue Jackets website. "It's been our goal and will be our goal until the end, but not at any cost. If it comes at a cost where we all of a sudden have to steer away from what our long-term goal is, that's not worth the price."
The Blue Jackets (31-26-5) hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the New York Islanders, three ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes and five ahead of the Florida Panthers. They finished fourth in the NHL standings last season and lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Second Round.
"I think we just need to play better," Kekalainen said. "I think we have the guys to do that. We have the personnel to play better. We've shown that through many stretches this year, that we have a good enough team with good enough players to make the playoffs if we just play the way we can. So I don't think added a player or two is going to be that drastic of a difference."
Kekalainen added a player on April 3, 2013, less than two months after he joined the Blue Jackets. He acquired forward Marian Gaborik from the New York Ranges for center Derick Brassard, forward Derek Dorsett and defenseman John Moore.
The result? Gaborik had eight points (three goals, five assists) in 12 games down the stretch, and the Blue Jackets missed the playoffs. They ended up trading Gaborik to the Los Angeles Kings the following season. While they recouped some, they watched him lead the playoffs with 14 goals and win the Stanley Cup with the Kings.
"That's a good example of sometimes you might get a good player, a great goal scorer, but he doesn't really help you, even though you thought it would," Kekalainen said. "He just doesn't fit. Those things are really hard to figure out, and that's what we do for a living, so we want to be right more than we're wrong."

Detroit Red Wings

Defenseman Mike Green will not play for the Red Wings against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, MSG, FS-D, NHL.TV), the Detroit Free Press reported.
This will be the sixth straight game Green has missed with an upper-body injury. Coach Jeff Blashill said on Saturday that Green was not being held out as a precaution ahead of the deadline.
The Red Wings (25-26-10) are seven points behind the Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Green is a pending unrestricted free agent and said Tuesday he had spoken with general manager Ken Holland about leaving Detroit. He has a no-trade clause but an open mind.
"If it's brought upon, we have another discussion about it, then we'll have to see," Green said.

Minnesota Wild

The Wild made one of the biggest trades before the deadline last year, acquiring center Martin Hanzal from the Arizona Coyotes. Don't expect them to do so again.
"I just don't anticipate much happening with us," general manager Chuck Fletcher told The Athletic.
The Wild (34-20-7) are in third place in the Central Division. They are three points ahead of the St. Louis Blues, the first team out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
But since Jan. 10, Minnesota has gone 12-3-3, tied for the best points percentage (.750) - along with the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators - over that span.
"The group has been played better, has been performing better, so at this point, I'd like to see what they can do," Fletcher said.
The Hanzal trade came at a high cost and with a low reward. As part of the trade, the Wild gave up a first-round pick in the 2017 draft and a second-rounder in 2018. Hanzal had 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 20 games, then one goal in five playoff games.
The Wild stumbled down the stretch and lost in five games to the Blues in the Western Conference First Round.
The Wild could add without giving up assets. They could sign forward Jordan Greenway, 21, whom they drafted in the second round (No. 50) in 2015, when his season ends at Boston University.

Dallas Stars

General manager Jim Nill is not likely to add before the trade deadline after adding goaltender Ben Bishop, defenseman Marc Methot and forwards Martin Hanzal, Tyler Pitlick and Alexander Radulov in the offseason.
The Stars (35-23-4) hold the first wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.
Hanzal has been in and out of the lineup because of injuries, but the Stars like their center depth. They're 15th in goals per game (2.90) but have been adjusting to coach Ken Hitchcock's more defensive style and have offensive talents like Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. They have little room under the NHL salary cap.
"We did most of our work in the summer and changed our team a great deal, so now we want to see how that plays out," Nill told the Dallas Morning News. "If we can make our team better for the proper price, we are open to do that, but I also think we have a good team now."
Nill recalled 1998-99, when he was with the Red Wings front office. After acquiring goaltender Bill Ranford, defensemen Chris Chelios and Ulf Samuelsson, and forward Wendel Clark, Detroit couldn't defeat the rival Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs.
"People were handing us the Cup at the trade deadline," Nill said. "Then we lost in the second round. So it's a really tough balancing act. You want to make your team as good as it can possibly be, but the cost to do that can hurt you down the road."