Former Rangers star seeks elusive Stanley Cup as executive with division rival
Rick Nash chased the Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers for six seasons without success. Six years after retiring as a player, Nash continues chasing that elusive championship with one of the Rangers divisional foes, as an executive with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Nash was promoted to director of hockey operations with the Blue Jackets on Friday after serving as their director of player development.
“For me as a player, I didn’t get to get my name on the Stanley Cup, so this is the next best chance to try to get my name on the Stanley Cup,” Nash explained. “That’s why I do it, is to bring a championship to Columbus and give back to our fans.”
Though Nash is most linked to the Blue Jackets, who made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NHL Draft, he came closest to winning a ring with the Rangers. In 2014, he helped the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years. But the Rangers lost in five games to the Los Angeles Kings, dropping three games in overtime, two in double OT.
A Game 5 double-OT loss in Los Angeles sealed the Rangers fate. And Alec Martinez’s series-winning goal came shortly after Nash was unable to bury a shot at an open net with Jonathan Quick out of position.
Nash was held without a point in the 2014 Cup Final. That’s a bittersweet memory for him after he scored three goals in the six-game win against the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final.
It was a burden Nash carried in his years with the Rangers, that he didn’t produce offensively in the postseason. His first year with the Rangers after being acquired from the Blue Jackets in 2013, he scored only one goal in 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Then in 2014 he was shut out in the Cup Final and finished with 10 points in 25 games.
The following season, 2014-15, Nash helped the Rangers win the Presidents’ Trophy with an NHL career-high 42 goals. He had 15 postseason points that year, when the Rangers lost in Game 7 of the conference final to the Tampa Bay Lightning, one game after his four-point effort kept their season alive with a massive road win in Game 6.
Despite four 20-goal seasons and much team success, Nash had a somewhat disappointing run with the Rangers, in part because of injuries. In a twist, his tenure ended on a positive note when he was dealt to the Boston Bruins ahead of the 2018 trade deadline.
As part of the return package, the Rangers received defenseman Ryan Lindgren and a first-round pick in the 2018 draft that turned into defenseman K’Andre Miller. Needless to say, that was a coup for the Rangers.
Related: Former Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr set to retire in Czechia after this season at 53
Former Rangers forward Rick Nash promoted to new role by Blue Jackets
Nash is beloved in Columbus, where he was captain and a franchise icon to begin his NHL career. He holds Blue Jackets records for goals (289), power-play goals (83), assists (258) and points (547). His No. 61 was retired in 2022.
Since 2021, Nash has worked for the organization, focusing mainly on its prospects, which he acknowledged is his favorite part of the his previous — and current — role.
New general manager Don Waddell was quick to promote Nash after coming over from the Carolina Hurricanes this offseason.
“I knew him as a player, didn’t know him as a person. I got to know him as a person throughout my time here,” Waddell explained. “I wouldn’t be a smart person running this team if I didn’t surround myself with people like Rick Nash.”
Soft-spoken and exceedingly polite, Nash always has been known as a class act in the NHL, on and off the ice. Now, he’s proving to be an executive on the rise to keep an eye on with the promotion and his recent work as general manager for Canada at the 2024 World Hockey Championship.
“I probably thought about this path before I retired,” Nash said. “As you get older, you have a family, and you know there’s going to be life after hockey. Being a player or a professional athlete is just a small chapter in your life, so I’ve thought about this a lot and feel like I’ve put a lot of time in and been a sponge to a lot of different people to try to learn the business.”
Waddell promised that Nash “will be involved’ in every hockey decision made by the Blue Jackets.
Columbus has missed the playoffs four straight seasons, and finished last in the Metropolitan Division the past two. It enters 2024-25 following the tragic death of star forward Johnny Gaudreau and after trading high-scoring wing Patrik Laine.
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