Ottawa Senators not going after Columbus Blue Jackets’ Rick Nash after all -NHL Free Agency Update
In surprising revelations, the Ottawa Senators have dropped their number in the race to acquire one of the hottest players in this year’s free agency as the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise announced to not be going after Columbus Blue Jackets’ captain,
Rick Nash.
Though not a free agent, Rick Nash wants a trade and he wants it soon, obviously before the next regular season begins and Ottawa had always seemed to be a well rounded destination for the captain.
Ottawa Senators general manager, Bryan Murray, termed it to be a waste of time in one sense and instead, is looking to work on other aspects of improving his team.
"I would say we're out of the talks, yes," Murray told reporters in Ottawa on Sunday. "Basically, we weren't on the list, let's put it that way. It never changed, so we just didn't feel it was necessary to continue chasing."
Murray also disclosed how the Senators had tried talking to unrestricted free agent of New Jersey Devils, Zach Parise, but those negotiations failed before they even started.
Terming it to be financial constraints, Ottawa was not in the mood to promise such long term contracts with players demanding that much money.
"We talked to everybody," Murray said. "We talked to the Nash camp, we talked to the Parise camp. It just didn't work with our way of operating. With the number of young people we have coming and the commitment we had to make both financially and term, we
just stepped back nicely."
Nash might be a top level player with a lot of experience in the league but a $7.8 million a year contract up until 2017-2018 is just not something Ottawa Senators are willing to invest in for the time being.
Re-signing captain Daniel Alfredsson is also another issue the team is facing since the veteran has still not decided whether to keep playing or call it quits right now.
Ottawa Senators have a lot of moves planned out in the upcoming days and should be observed closely to emerge with some surprising acquisitions as the NHL free agency progresses.
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