Rick Nash

At 39 years old, Rick Nash has this physical status:

Richard McLaren Nash (born June 16, 1984) is a retired professional ice hockey player who now works as the special assistant to the Columbus Blue Jackets' general manager. (NHL).

He spent 15 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, and Boston Bruins, and was selected to play in six National Hockey League All-Star Games after being first overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by Columbus.

Nash was a highly regarded prospect with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), where he spent two seasons as the league's Rookie of the Year in 2001.

He began his NHL career with the Blue Jackets right after his draft in 2002-03 and was nominated for the Calder Trophy as the Year's Rookie of the Year.

Nash scored 41 goals to tie Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk as the top goal scorers in the NHL during his second season as the NHL's top goal scorer.

Nash has been a five-time NHL All-Star and was given the NHL Foundation Player Award in the 2008-2009 season for his charitable work in the Columbus area. Nash has competed for Team Canada, winning one gold and two silver medals at the World Championships, as well as two gold and two silver medals at the Winter Olympics in 2010 and 2014.

In addition,, he has represented Canada in the 2002 World Junior Championships, helping the team win a silver medal and also competing for Canada in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

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Playing career

Rick Nash began his major junior career with 66 points in his first year as the league's top rookie, earning the Emms Family Award. He scored 72 points in 54 games and was then voted first overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Go, Kirke's first NHL deal for Nash was reached minutes before the signing deadline. It was the most lucrative contract for an NHL rookie at the time, with compensation and grants ranging from 8 to US$12 million.

Nash debuted on October 10, 2002, making him the first Blue Jackets player to play in a 2–1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. He was the eighth overall pick to score in his first game and the first to do so in his rookie year after Mario Lemieux in 1984. Nash was named as the NHL's best rookie last season, but the St. Louis Blues' defenseman was disqualified. Jackman will, on the other hand, join Jackman on the NHL All-Rookie Team.

He increased his rookie goal total from 17 to 41 in Nash's sophomore campaign, tying Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk for the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for most goals in the league, tied for most league goals. Nash was the youngest player in history to lead the league in goals at 19 years old. Nash finished the year with 57 points, with 16 assists.

Nash played for HC Davos of the Swiss Nationalliga A (NLA) during the 2004-05 NHL lockout. In 14 games in the NLA playoffs, he scored 26 goals and 46 points in 44 games and gained 11 more points (nine goals and two assists). Davos, joined by fellow NHLer Joe Thornton, went on to win the Swiss Championship and the 2004 Spengler Cup.

The Blue Jackets re-signed Nash to a five-year, $27 million deal, with the NHL set to return to action in 2005–06. With $3.5 million in the first season and $7 million in the last season for a $5.4 million average salary, the man's annual salary increased each year. The first half of the season, however, was marred by knee and ankle injuries. Nash was still named to Team Canada for the 2006 Olympics, just after being activated from the injured reserve. Nash stepped up the season by scoring 54 points in 54 games after coming back from a disappointing seventh-place finish in Turin.

Nash matched his sophomore points total with 57 in 2006-07, and was named to the Western Conference All-Star Team for the second time in his career. Both times, he was Columbus' lone representative. In the West's victory, Nash scored the game-winning goal.

Nash scored what many analysts called the "goal of the year" in the final minute against the Phoenix Coyotes on January 17, 2008. Nash whipped around two defenders and the goaltender to score the eventual game winner, despite tied scores. The goal was nominated for an ESPY Award in the category of Best Play later this year. Nash scored the fastest goal in All-Star Game history in 2008, only 12 seconds in and ended the game with a hat-trick.

Nash nearly matched his personal record set and set a career high for points and assists in the season's 38 goals and 69 points. Nash was also named the fifth captain in the Blue Jackets history by a short time before the season ended on March 12, 2008.

Nash was selected as the cover star and spokesperson for the NHL 2K9 video game in May 2008.

The Blue Jackets had not made a single appearance in franchise history before the 2008-09 campaign. The Blue Jackets finished the season as the seventh seed in the Western Conference, with division-rival the Detroit Red Wings bolstered by newly appointed captain Nash and bolstered by rookie goaltender Steve Mason. The series was launched by an 8–2 victory over the Red Wings on March 7, 2009, a game in which Nash scored three unassisted goals. According to the Columbus Dispatch, citing the Elias Sports Bureau, Maurice Richard (who scored four goals against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on March 14, 1948). Despite the elating victory late in the season, the Blue Jackets were swept in four games by the Red Wings.

Nash had a career season with 79 points, in addition to scoring 40 goals for the first time since 2003–04. Nash signed an eight-year deal with the Blue Jackets worth $62.4 million, which will go into operation in 2010–11.

Columbus's record got off to a slow start to an NHL season in 19 years as the 2011–12 season began. With the team's woes, rumors began to circulate that the Blue Jackets were considering selling Nash as a solution to their on-ice woes. Although Blue Jackets General Manager Scott Howson said openly that he had no discussions regarding a Nash pact, other teams had nevertheless contacted him to inquire about his availability. Nash said that if the franchise felt it would advance by dealing him, it would be able to ignore his no-trade clause in order to get the deal done. Despite knowing that Howson had previously stated that he had no intention of trading Nash two weeks before the trade deadline, the team was open to all alternatives and was willing to listen to trade suggestions for Nash, despite not actively shopping him. In return for Nash the Blue Jackets, the players would expect a top-five forward, a top prospect, and a first-round draft pick.

Trade rumors raged into the summer, with no agreement expected. Although Howson said he needed to receive "market value" in any deal for Nash, there was also evidence that his asking price was too high for several other NHL GMs to consider. Columbus eventually found a trade partner in the New York Rangers. Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, Tim Erixon, and a 2013 first-round draft pick were traded to the Rangers by Nash, Steven Delisle, and a conditional third-round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

During the 2012-2013 NHL lockout, Nash signed a deal to play with the HC Davos once more. Nash suffered his shoulder and left the game in late September 2012 while playing for Davos.

Nash had a fruitful first regular season with the Rangers, scoring 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points in 44 games played in the lockout-shortened 2012–2013 season. In the playoffs, Nash was disappointed with just one goal and four assists in 12 playoff games.

Nash began the 2013–14 season with three assists in two games. Nash sustained a concussion against the San Jose Sharks on October 8, 2013, causing him to miss 17 games. In a 3–2 win over the Dallas Stars on November 21, Nash scored his first goal of the season. He will finish the season with a solid goal total of 26 in 65 games, but with only 13 assists, his 39 points were tied for his lowest mark in his career. For the second year in a row, Nash failed horribly in the playoffs, with only three goals in 25 playoff games. Despite his poor offensive output, the Rangers advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, losing in five games to the Los Angeles Kings in a series in which all the games were close decisions.

Nash had a breakout season in 2014–15, with a career-high 42 goals (third in the NHL), followed by Steven Stamkos with 43 goals and Alexander Ovechkin with 53) and 27 assists. Nash's performance also improved during the 2015 playoffs, scoring five goals and nine assists (14 points) in 19 games as the Rangers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a hard-fought seven-game Eastern Conference Finals series.

Nash's results dropped at the start of the 2015--16 season as he attempted to recapture his scoring from the previous season. Muscle spasms that had caused Nash to miss 22 games were exacerbating this. Despite being involved in trade rumors, few teams appeared to be interested in Rick Nash and his $7.9 million cap hit. Nash scored a career-low 15 goals while still having 21 assists for a career-low 36 points. In New York's five-game opening round loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, he scored two goals and two assists.

Nash was named an alternate captain for the New York Rangers on October 11, 2016, alongside Daniel Girardi, Marc Staal, and Derek Stepan, as well as captain Ryan McDonagh. In a 5–3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on November 8, 2016, Nash scored his 400th goal. Nash missed several games during the 2016-2017 season, this time due to a nagging groin injury. In 67 games, he still managed to score 23 goals and 15 assists for 38 points. During the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs, Nash's results continued to improve. In the Rangers' six-game opening-round victory over the Montreal Canadiens, he scored two goals and one assist.

Nash played in his 1,000th NHL appearance on October 26, 2017 in which the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5–2. He became the 312th player to play at least 1,000 games in a row in NHL history.

The Rangers struggled during the 2017-18 season relative to their previous seasons' results. On February 8, 2018, the team sent a letter to fans announcing their intention to restart a rebuild, to which rumors of a Nash trade erupted as he was in the last year of his deal. Nash was traded to the Boston Bruins on February 25, 2018, the first-round pick and a 2019 seventh-round pick. In a 4–3 overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, Rick Nash's first goal as a Bruin and 800th career point appeared on February 27, 2018.

Nash was forced to drop from professional hockey after playing 1,060 games in spanning more than 15 years on January 11, 2019. He was 34 years old at the time, but after suffering from unsolved injuries from a concussion suffered in March 2018.

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