One thing we haven’t heard anyone suggest in the Rick Nash saga is having the team hang onto him if a trade can’t be worked out.
Until now.
Rob Oller of The Columbus Dispatch suggests GM Scott Howson do just that and the reasoning is... Well, it’s interesting. Even though you’d think things with Nash and the team would get sour in such a situation, Oller says things could work out anyhow even with bad blood.
But even if Nash’s professionalism goes south, so what? Negative locker-room issues often are overrated. Many examples exist in which teammates tore at each other behind the scenes but still excelled on the field. That is not to say disruption should be sought; the 2011 Boston Red Sox showed that dysfunction and drinking in the clubhouse don’t always mix.
Context counts. Bickering teammates is a different problem than players barking at management, which is different from a disgruntled star who complains about his predicament. The sport matters, too. Football seems to benefit/suffer more than most sports from good/bad chemistry.
Jackets fans did their part to show they loved Nash at the end of last season in wanting him to stick around, but bringing him back after a contemptuous summer just sounds like a really bad idea. Nash is done with Columbus, the fans are (likely) done with having him there, and his teammates might not like having a guy who doesn’t have his heart into the current team.
Sure things could work out and everyone plays nice, but does the team take a chance in torpedoing their season from the get-go like that? Hard to see it working out that way.