The San Jose Sharks have lost five of their last seven games and are currently on a two-game losing streak. On Friday, they dropped a 3-2 game to the Carolina Hurricanes, which is pretty close to unacceptable at this point, given where they're at in their season. San Jose is battling for the top of the Pacific Division and have more games to play along the second half of their season than any other team.
Every game counts.
That being said, it's easy to look to the upcoming NHL trade deadline on Feb. 27 and project that the Sharks need to go out and make a big move. Rick Nash has been the name mentioned more often than naught, but that remains the case for basically every team in the NHL. It's true that he'd come in and improve the team, but the worst thing you can do when you're getting nearer and nearer a must-win situation?
Have a knee-jerk reaction and make a dumb mistake. Now, that's not Doug Wilson's style, but the Sharks have undergone quite a few changes since the completion of last season, and at this point, anything is possible. Still, making the kind of trade that would likely get the Columbus Blue Jackets to part with Nash is likely to cost an awful lot, and could potentially set the Sharks back for the future.
More than that, the kind of decision to trade for Nash deserves a helluva lot more consideration than "Well they're losing and the trade deadline is coming up." That's not a smart way to do business, especially when you consider the circumstances. The Sharks are on a very tough part of their schedule, with multiple back-to-backs and they're currently on a nine-game road trip.
Sure, there's no real excuse to losing - the Sharks just need to play better. But spending all they can to acquire Nash or another player like him in a knee-jerk reaction is the last thing they need to do.