All throughout the Rick Nash trade negotiations, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson was criticized for aiming too high in his trade demands, and with good reason. There was never any possibility of the San Jose Sharks parting with Logan Couture or the Carolina Hurricanes giving up Jeff Skinner in order to acquire Nash, particularly when it was common knowledge that Nash wanted out of Columbus and Howson was running out of options (a situation that only worsened when the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers took themselves out of the running).
All of that was made worse, however, when Howson finally completed a trade for Nash on Monday to the New York Rangers, and got back a package consisting of Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first-round draft pick.
Make no mistake: this is by no means a bad deal for Columbus. At worst, it's par for the course. Howson essentially gave up a quarter and got back two dimes and a nickel, and the pieces stand a good chance of making Columbus a better team. The 21-year-old defenseman Erixon was ranked as the Rangers' top prospect by The Hockey News, and adding him to an emerging Columbus defensive corps that already includes Jack Johsnon, James Wisniewski, Fedor Tyutin and Nikita Nikitin - not to mention 2011 draft pick Ryan Murray - should make the Blue Jackets very solid on the back end, particularly if recently-acquired goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky can recapture the form he displayed in 2010-11. In addition, the Blue Jackets get a pair of hard-working centermen with potential to produce in Dubinsky and Anisimov, both the kind of pivots who can get the most out of talented wing players (on that score, it might be worth Howson's while to take a run at Alexander Semin to see if Dubinsky can find chemistry with him as he once did with Jaromir Jagr (who, of course, is a much better player, but it's still worth a shot). The Blue Jackets also get a first-round pick in the deal, giving them three in next year's draft (they already had their own selection and the Kings' pick).
All of that having been said, however, when you make as much noise as Howson did about getting the best package and being willing to wait for the right deal, it raises expectations. Howson needed a home run deal here, and he didn't get one. That's not to say that Howson really set his team back with this trade, but he didn't do well enough to pass the test with analysts around the league.
Howson's been hard to figure out in the last few months. At the NHL Draft last month in Pittsburgh, he turned down the New York Islanders' entire complement of picks in exchange for the second overall pick, but on the same day, he gave up three draft picks to acquire Sergei Bobrovsky, who had been the backup goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers. In trying to trade Nash, he made outlandish demands like Couture and Skinner, but then wound up taking a deal that looks light by comparison. It's tough to make sense of, and if this deal doesn't yield results quickly for Columbus, ownership may not be willing to try.
For now, however, Howson, like the rest of us, will have to watch this deal play out and see where it leads.
