A lot of talk this season has been devoted to the Jackets' need for a center.
They were linked to Matt Duchene and have been loosely connected to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but looking at the current roster situation, they need serious help on the wing. With Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alexander Wennberg, Brandon Dubinsky, and Lukas Sedlak, the Jackets have four solid centers; on the wing, it’s been another story. With the exception of Josh Anderson and Artemi Panarin it seems like every other winger on the team has performed below expectations.
With the trade deadline approaching, the Jackets have shifted their focus and are looking for a goal scoring winger. Enter Rick Nash.
It’s been reported that the Blue Jackets could be a landing spot for their former captain. This report was met with mixed reviews; many fans are still displeased with how Nash left the team but regardless of that, adding a player like Nash is exactly what the Blue Jackets need.
Nash is not "peak Rick Nash" anymore. If he was, the Rangers would not be as bad as they are and he would not be available for trade. With that being said, Nash still brings a lot to the table and would be an upgrade over some of the players the Blue Jackets have been rolling out on the wing.
On the surface, Nash's stats aren’t that impressive. He has 25 points in 52 games, and he has just a 47.47% Corsi this season at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick, which is nothing to write home about.
However, there is more to this than meets the eye: for starters, the Rangers have been the worst possession team in the league at 45.96% overall. Relative to his team, Nash has been a positive Corsi player. Details matter!
Nash continues to be a strong shot generation player. At 5-on-5, he leads the Rangers in individual shot attempts per 60 at 17.95 and in shots per 60 at 11.15. Both of these would rank second on the Blue Jackets behind Cam Atkinson. Nash has also had success converting those shot attempts into goals; he has 11 goals at 5-on-5 and a 9.32% shooting percentage; again, both would be second-best on the Jackets.
Hockey analyst CJ Turtoro created some solid visuals which can be used to compare players. He uses data tracked by Corey Sznajder to provide a snapshot of a player's shot contributions through shots and passes, as well as a player’s zone entries and exits.
Below are visuals showing Nash and how he compares to some of the wingers the Blue Jackets have used this season.
There is a lot to digest here, so bear with me.
First: as mentioned, Nash is still an elite shot generator. His passing isn’t great but you don’t bring in Nash to have him pass the puck – you want him playing to his strengths, which are shooting the puck and scoring goals. After a strong season last year, Cam Atkinson is regarded as one of the better players on this team. Over the last two seasons, Nash has been nearly an identical player at 5-on-5.
Obviously you don’t want to give Nash a long-term deal seeing as he's 33, but the point remains: he's still a very good player.
Secondly...my goodness, does Bjorkstand need to play more. In the 47 games that have been tracked, he hasn’t shown much of any weakness. He’s adept at both shooting and passing; in fact, he leads the team this season with 1.38 assists per 60 and 0.98 primary assists per 60 (5-on-5). It’s pretty ridiculous that Bjorkstrand averages just 14 minutes a night in all situations, more than four full minutes less than Nick Foligno.
Something's not right with Foligno this season and you have to wonder if flip-flopping between center and wing has played a factor. His stats are down across the board and this is not like seasons past where his shooting percentage was low – it’s right in line with his career averages. Adding a player like Nash would cut into Foligno’s minutes and that could help the Jackets.
Jenner is another player who should be seeing reduced minutes (he’s averaging more ice time than in three previous seasons at 17:36 a night). He can exit the zone fine, but has real problems entering the zone. He likes to shoot the puck but he doesn’t have the shot that a player like Atkinson or Nash does.
Calvert is a nice defensive player who can kill penalties, but there's not much to discuss with him.
Jokinen could have been a nice stop-gap for the Jackets. His stats appear OK, but watching him play, it looks like he's pretty close to being done as an NHL player. His smarts are still there but he’s very slow, and that’s reflected in his zone entry numbers.
The Jackets have had issues scoring goals this season. They have been giving big minutes to wingers who haven't been able to produce the way they did a year ago, and adding a goal-scoring winger like Rick Nash would cut into those players’ minutes and give the team a boost.
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