Blackhawks: 3 Toronto Maple Leafs free agents to consider

Riley Nash would provide some versatility for the Chicago Blackhawks forwards.

Riley Nash is a complete journeyman throughout his NHL career. He played with the Carolina Hurricanes for the first five years of his career before playing the next two with the Boston Bruins. He then played parts of the next three with the Columbus Blue Jackets before they traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021.

He played most of the season with the Jackets but never got into a regular-season game with the Maple Leafs due to injury. He did end up playing in two games out of seven in the playoffs but he wasn’t much of a factor. With Columbus in 2021, he had two goals and five assists for seven points in 37 games. It wasn’t much but he provided some veteran leadership for both teams he played with.

If the Hawks signed a player like this, they wouldn’t be looking for any sort of offensive explosion but they would be looking for some depth in the bottom six. He can play well in his own zone which is why he would be valuable to a team like the Hawks. They have a very young group of forwards as a whole so injecting someone like Nash might be fun to see.