When the free agent market opens on Sunday, Rick Nash will be sitting on the sidelines as he ponders his future.
The 34-year-old Nash, who will be an unrestricted free agent July 1, hasn’t decided if he wants to continue his playing career, per several reports. His agent, Joe Resnick, told TSN’s Darren Dreger on Thursday that he won’t be accepting offers until Nash makes up his mind. He was already drawing interest from several teams.
Nash, who was traded to the Bruins in February after spending his NHL career with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers, has scored 437 goals and recorded 805 points in 1,060 career games. He has also suffered several concussions, including one at the end of the 2017-18 regular season. The concussion issue is something that’s reportedly playing a factor in his decision whether to pursue another contract.
Last week, Nash told Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman, “weighing all options of where I want to pick up the family and move to. My main goal is to the win the Cup.” That’s a similar message that Resnick gave to Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, who would be interested in the forward if he chooses to play again and the timing is right.
“Whenever Rick makes his decision for his own future, we’ll probably be open to continue [talks],” said Sweeney via Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe. “The time’s in his court at this stage to initiate whatever talks he wants, wherever he wants to go. I think he strongly indicated that Boston would be a place he would consider, as would we.”
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.