Rick Nash Pulling a Playoff No-Show...Again

Another playoff season, another Rick Nash disappearing act so far. Death, taxes, and Nash disappointing come playoff time. Just three of the certainties of life.

The New York Rangers find themselves down 1-0 in their Conference semifinal match against the Washington Capitals after Thursday night’s heartbreaking loss in the final seconds. It was another hard-fought game for the Rangers who could only muster one goal past Braden Holtby. While the Rangers have only played six playoff games so far, the offensive trend is disturbing: only 12 goals in those six games and only one from “superstar” forward Rick Nash.

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If this was the first time number 61 for the Rangers had gone MIA come the spring, no one would bat too hard of an eyelash: it’s tougher to score in the playoffs as the games are tighter and teams are closer in talent. Six games is hardly a large enough sample size to be overly concerned, especially for a player who has amassed 378 regular season goals over a 12-year career.

But here’s a little bit larger of a sample: in 47 career playoff games (43 with the Rangers, four with Columbus), Nash has scored a whopping 6 goals to go along with 16 assists. Over the course of an 82-game season, that’s a pace slightly above 10 goals per season. Not quite the production one expects from a forward carrying a $7.8 million cap hit.

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To be fair, Nash has developed into more than just a scoring forward. He’s a key component on the Rangers’ penalty kill and does a solid job in back-checking and trying to be a responsible two-way forward. There is definitely value in those parts of the game.

But the Rangers aren’t paying Nash to play the role of a third-line winger. They are paying him to carry the offensive load and score goals—lots of goals. And in the regular season that never seems to be the issue. Even this season he tallied 42 goals, good for second in the league. But what began as a torrid pace, scoring to begin the season (16 goals in his first 23 games), ended with a whimper (5 goals over his last 19 regular season games). That drought has carried over into the playoffs where his only goal was a last-second tally against the Penguins with the Rangers down by two. Yes, it looks nice on the score sheet, but had no impact in the game whatsoever.

And that is the question surrounding the Rangers now: can Nash be an impact player in the playoffs? He’s been underwhelming at best during his Ranger postseason career and left many Rangers fans wondering “what if” over his no-show in the Stanley Cup Finals last season (0 points in 5 Finals’ games, 3 goals and 7 assists total in 25 playoff games). While one can look at the final “4-1” Kings’ series victory and think it was a laugher, three of the four Kings’ victories came in overtime, and if Nash was anything close to impactful, perhaps we’re talking about the Rangers defending their title this spring, not just looking to get over the hump.

The good news for Ranger fans and Nash is that there is still plenty of time to rewrite his narrative this postseason. If he scores a few big goals this series and the Rangers advance past the Capitals and possibly even further, fans will quickly forget his prior struggles. He’s expected to be “the man” on offense and with linemate Mats Zuccarello out for the rest of this round and possibly more, the Rangers are going to have to rely on Nash more than ever (that “gulp” you heard is the collective Rangers fan base being terrified of another Nash no-show.)

If he no-shows again and the Rangers don’t win the Stanley Cup this year, it’s fair to start asking the question of whether Nash should be moved elsewhere. With a “championship or bust” attitude, the Rangers can’t afford to have their highest paid player turn into a defensive specialist when goals are at a premium.

It’s just one of the fascinating sub-plots going right now. And if he goes out and scores two huge goals tomorrow to even up the series, well, I guess you’re welcome Rangers fans.

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