At the NHL Trade Deadline last season, the San Jose Sharks were players in the Rick Nash sweepstakes right up until the very end. San Jose was on Nash's short list of teams he'd agree to be traded to, but the Columbus Blue Jackets, despite an amicable feeling, would not part with Nash without the right deal.
For them, that deal included Logan Couture, and Sharks general manager Doug Wilson was not willing to even consider including him in a deal. It wasn't that the talks started with Couture and then he was taken off the table, it's that he was never on the table at all.
Now, it's looking like San Jose is back in the Nash sweepstakes, with a Tweet from Nick Kypreos (with a H/T to SI.com) stating that San Jose, along with the Ottawa Senators, are the teams most interested in acquiring Nash:
#SNdraft news. Seems #Sens and #Sharks most interested #NHL teams for #Bluejackets Rick Nash as of Thurs nite.
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) June 21, 2012
Unfortunately, it still likely means that the Blue Jackets want Couture. And it's not likely to happen. That being said, Kypreos did follow up with a list of Sharks players who could potentially be on the table. He suggests that Joe Pavelski, Ryane Clowe and Jason Demers are guys that are being considered.
Pavelski is clearly the best of that bunch and stands the best chance of being part of a trade in regards to it being good for the Blue Jackets. But the return would really be questionable. How much better than Pavelski is Nash? Is it worth shaking up the locker room so much to bring in Nash?
Clowe and Demers are interesting options. Clowe is a guy who had a down season last year so his value might be diminished right now, so he might actually be worth more to the Sharks than he is to other teams. Demers is an interesting option but he isn't worth as much as either of the prior two mentioned.
That being said, it's good to see that other names are being floated around. We don't currently know if those are names the Sharks put on the table or if it's the Blue Jackets amending their demands as to where the trade starts, but it will be very interesting, to say the least.
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