The trade deadline of 3 p.m. ET on Monday is quickly approaching, and Rick Nash is still a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The New York Rangers looked the easy favorites to pick him up earlier, but Columbus' asking price seemed to be far too high for the Rangers to handle and on Sunday evening they dropped themselves from the race.
Now it looks like the two teams remaining in the race for Nash are the San Jose Sharks and the Toronto Maple Leafs, two teams that have otherwise made only small splashes in the approach to the trade deadline. Columbus radio station FAN 97.1 reported early on Monday that there were two offers in from those teams. The only confirmed trade piece is Joffrey Lupel in the Toronto side of things.
Columbus' FAN 97.1 reports CBJ pondering 2 firm offers from
#Sharks &#Leafs for#Nash. Latter to inc LW Joffrey Lupul#SNTRADE#TradeCentre
The asking price is obviously incredibly high from Columbus to get the services of their superstar, and for obvious reasons they want a huge return for him. With New York dropping out because of the price being so high, it's hard to say what San Jose or Toronto could offer to get Nash on their teams without breaking their own banks.
Only hours remain until the deadline, time will tell if either of those 'firm' offers are firm enough to get Columbus' attention and get Nash in a new sweater by the end of the season.
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