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Sather “didn’t want to dismantle” Rangers for Nash

satherap

James

If you had to name a GM who might be bold/crazy enough to meet the Columbus Blue Jackets’ price for Rick Nash, Glen Sather and the New York Rangers had to be high on the list, right?

That assumption isn’t based on Internet and old media conjecture alone, either. Sather has developed a borderline addiction to “The Big Move,” usually with cartoonish-explosion-to-the-face results.*

Despite “lusting” after that next big fix, Sather & Co.'s best offer was one that Scott Howson was able to refuse. Sather provided a big-picture view of why he decided not to make the offer a little richer, as Mike Mazzeo reports for ESPN.

“I like our team, and I wasn’t going to dismantle pieces out of the organization, although it was written just about every different scenario you can imagine,” Sather said. “We’re not ready to do anything like that.”

A golden opportunity

On one hand, the Ranger’s interest in Nash makes a ton of sense. A so-so offense is one thing that makes the contending team feel a shade below elite. There’s also the thought that the window might not be open like this again anytime soon considering Sidney Crosby’s injury issues, Philadelphia’s goalie woes, Washington’s identity crisis and any number of other Eastern Conference scenarios.

Versus a bright future

Even with that in mind, my gut instinct is to say that Sather was saved from himself. His batting average with bold moves is at a single-A level; even relatively decent recent ones like Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards haven’t been home runs.

Nope, the Rangers are succeeding in a large part because of Henrik Lundqvist and the hard-working core that the team developed through patient development and savvy, subtler pickups.

Will it be enough to win this year? Perhaps not, but Nash likely would have cost pieces that could make them a sexier choice in the future.

* Bobby Holik, Chris Drury, Wade Redden, etc. etc.