Report: Flyers, Jackets discussing Nash deal

PHILADELPHIA -- Could the Flyers be the leader in the race to acquire Columbus Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash?

For the third straight game, a top Blue Jackets executive is here in Philadelphia. General manager Scott Howson was in attendance last Saturday for the Flyers-Rangers game and had two long conversations with Flyers GM Paul Holmgren. Blue Jackets senior advisor Craig Patrick was here for Thursday for a game against the Buffalo Sabres, and today both Howson and Patrick are here. Howson again spent time talking with Holmgren prior to the game.

Sources tell CSNPhilly.com's Tim Panaccio that the Flyers are listening and having serious discussions about the cost of acquiring Nash. Panaccio speculates that cost could be high.

"As for the asking price for a player of Nash’s caliber? Probably Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn,” Panaccio wrote. “But … it may be something else. It may be James van Riemsdyk, another player, plus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Or a high draft pick besides a player. The Flyers don't want to move Couturier or Schenn, but if I'm Howson, I want both those players."

Panaccio reports his source tells him the Flyers are more interested in adding another defenseman, like they did Thursday when they acquired Nicklas Grossman from the Dallas Stars. However, when asked if it was "unlikely" he'd go after a star player, Holmgren paused, and replied: "Unlikely? I don't know if I'd use that word, but probably not something that we're talking about at length."

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

Back to top