RILEY NASH - Center - 30 - $2.75MM Cap Hit - UFA in 2021-2022
LAST UPDATED 8/1/19
After filling in nicely for Patrice Bergeron in Boston when the legendary defensive centerman was injured, Riley Nash signed a decently sized free agent contract to become a Columbus Blue Jacket, where he promptly disappointed and saw his point total crash from 41 points the year before to only 12 in 2018-19. This is not to say Nash is a lost cause and completely without value, obviously, but a general reminder that Nash's offensive explosion in his contract year was much more due to his linemates and heavily inflated shooting percentage than it was his actual talent. That being said, the Columbus version of Riley Nash is likely the flip side of that coin, an unsustainably bad version of a typically capable player. When Nash got to Columbus, he saw his season-to-season shooting percentage drop ten points to an insanely low 3.8%, which is probably why he only scored three goals. Thankfully for Nash, though, his value has never really come from his offense. Nash has always been a defense-first centerman, and his first season in Columbus was no different. Nash was his same smart, gritty, tenacious defensive center that he's always been, despite the offensive regression. Going forward, I wonder how Nash's defensive game will adapt to a loss of foot speed with age, but Nash's defense has always been more about work ethic and intelligence than pure speed, so I suspect he'll age decently well. Offensively, Nash should rebound to his typical ~20 point form, and if he can keep contributing his stellar 5v5 defense he'll be a very good, and handsomely compensated, fourth line center.
After filling in nicely for Patrice Bergeron in Boston when the legendary defensive centerman was injured, Riley Nash signed a decently sized free agent contract to become a Columbus Blue Jacket, where he promptly disappointed and saw his point total crash from 41 points the year before to only 12 in 2018-19. This is not to say Nash is a lost cause and completely without value, obviously, but a general reminder that Nash's offensive explosion in his contract year was much more due to his linemates and heavily inflated shooting percentage than it was his actual talent. That being said, the Columbus version of Riley Nash is likely the flip side of that coin, an unsustainably bad version of a typically capable player. When Nash got to Columbus, he saw his season-to-season shooting percentage drop ten points to an insanely low 3.8%, which is probably why he only scored three goals. Thankfully for Nash, though, his value has never really come from his offense. Nash has always been a defense-first centerman, and his first season in Columbus was no different. Nash was his same smart, gritty, tenacious defensive center that he's always been, despite the offensive regression. Going forward, I wonder how Nash's defensive game will adapt to a loss of foot speed with age, but Nash's defense has always been more about work ethic and intelligence than pure speed, so I suspect he'll age decently well. Offensively, Nash should rebound to his typical ~20 point form, and if he can keep contributing his stellar 5v5 defense he'll be a very good, and handsomely compensated, fourth line center.
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