Quick Hits July 27: Noteworthy NHL Transactions

• Rick Nash is finally out in Columbus and on his way to the New York Rangers, and to me, that's not the most interesting piece of this move. That accolade would go the fact that Blue Jackets' GM Scott Howson waited this long to receive so little for his team's most valuable commodity. The Blue Jackets acquired Brandon Dubinsky, coming off his worst season as a pro (he managed just 10 goals and 24 assists last year for the first place Rangers) Artem Anisimov, who has the potential to blossom into an above average goal scorer with the lack of competition in Columbus, Tim Erixon, a young D-man who only played 18 games with New York but may become a full-time NHLer with the Blue Jackets, and a draft pick in 2013 that will likely be one of the last picks of the first round. Not exactly a prince's ransom, considering Nash is a first line winger on any team, and has been on the market since at least February. The Rangers received Nash along with Steven Delisle, a likely career AHLer, as well as a third round pick in 2013 that will be returned to the Blue Jackets if the Rangers make the Stanley Cup Finals. Rumour has it one of the main reasons the deal took so long was Howson's insistence on getting recent Frozen Four champion Chris Kreider as a piece in the move. Apparently Rangers' GM Glen Sather was able to have his cake and eat it too, as he managed to acquire Nash while retaining the team's 2009 first-round pick who made a name for himself by scoring 5 goals in 18 playoff games with the Rangers after being relieved of his NCAA duties with Boston College. Watch out for the Rangers next year, this team is downright scary on paper. 

• The Carolina Hurricanes made another offseason splash as they signed Alexander Semin to a one year, $7 million deal. Semin has seen his goal totals drop from 40 in 2009-10 to 28 in 2010-11, and a career-worst 21 goals this past season. His poor statistical 2011-12 season can be partially explained by the early-season arrival of defensive-minded coach Dale Hunter, a stark contrast to the freewheeling ways of Bruce Boudreau. It will be interesting to see if Hurricanes' bench boss Kirk Muller starts Semin with the Staal brothers or with the Finnish tandem of Ruutu and Jokinen. Jeff Skinner is the sixth forward for the 'Canes and should benefit from Semin's arrival, as he will likely see less of opposing teams' top defensive pairs. 

• Shea Weber will remain a Nashville Predator, something that came into question when the Philadelphia Flyers submitted a gigantic 14-year, $110 million deal to the Pred's captain. GM David Poile stated before free agency that he would match any offer given to the restricted free agent, and did just that on Tuesday. This isn't really a surprise, as Nashville's success is centred around team defence, and Shea Weber is one of the best defenders in the league. Considering the Predators already lost Weber's defensive partner Ryan Suter to free agency this offseason, Poile didn't really have a choice but to match the Flyers' offer.