Toronto Maple Leafs Make Another No-Risk Acquisition

On Friday, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets acquiring Riley Nash for a conditional 7th round pick.

The condition on the draft pick is it will become a sixth-round pick if Nash plays in 25 percent of the Toronto Maple Leafs playoff games this season.

Nash comes with a cap hit of 2.75 million and his contract expires at the end of this season. There are plenty of other implications with the trade with regards to the cap situation and long-term injury reserve (LTIR) because currently, Riley Nash is out for 4-6 weeks which is approximately playoff time.

Right before the trade was announced, the Blue Jackets placed Nash on LTIR and thus his cap hit wouldn’t affect the Leafs current cap situation.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Riley Nash?

Riley Nash is a former first-round pick from 2007 and he is 31 now with a large frame of 6’2 and 188lbs.  Many Maple Leaf fans should be familiar with Nash by now. It has been two of the past 3 playoff series where Nash has played a big role in shutting down Toronto’s best players.  Nash only has 7 points in 37 games as it currently stands, quite down from his 41 point season with Boston a few years ago.

Nash shutting down other players should come as no surprise to anyone, he is definitively one of the best defensive bottom-6 forwards in the league. The way he plays defines what the Columbus Blue Jackets have become since Panarin left. He is a player who when you put on the ice there will be few chances for either team.

There are few players in the league who will have as few goals scored when they are on the ice and as few goals scored against. Nash is the definition of a low-event player.

Here is a chart from @JFreshHockey on Twitter

Riley Nash

As you may quickly notice Nash is 99th percentile in defense but not very good at the offensive part of the game. Another useful aspect of Nash’s game is he might be able to help out on the penalty kill taking Spezza’s role as a better fit.

Nash’s ability to support the defense on the breakout is something that makes him a useful asset, he is extremely good at getting behind the puck and denying lanes. He will win board battles and force the puck to the outside in the defensive zone.

Sheldon Keefe said in an interview that Nash is impressive in the way he plays in difficult matchups, and starts in the defensive zone. All this being said, it is difficult to determine who Nash, coming off an injury, will take out of the lineup as it is currently constructed. It seems likely that Nash is in a situation where he is in and out of the lineup or jumps in if injuries pop up.

Nash is a good pickup for adding more defensive value to the Leafs. He is a guy you can trust in all situations and that is very important. His value has been proven against the Leafs in the past couple of playoff series against Boston and Columbus.

It will be interesting to see if Dubas has any more moves on the table over the deadline.