Trade Deadline thoughts/obs... so far

• As we all know, Columbus Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash has been heavily rumored to be traded to the Rangers for the past couple weeks, but due to CBJ GM Scott Howson's insane trade demands at the moment, it doesn't seem like the Rangers and Blue Jackets are even in the same stratosphere as far as making a deal work. Some of the tradebreakers include the Rangers parting ways with Chris Kreider and Tim Erixon, two top Ranger prospects that according to Larry Brooks, the Rangers have deemed untouchable. The rumor is the Rangers are offering Brandon Dubinsky, Chris Thomas, Dylan McIlrath and a first round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. While that's quite a bit to trade away for a semi-elite scorer in the NHL (yes, I'm putting Nash in that category) that isn't enough for Scott Howson to trade away with the face of the franchise since the Blue Jackets inception into the NHL in 2000.
• Last night the Blue Jackets traded away Jeff Carter to the Kings for Jack Johnson and a conditional first round pick. According to various reports mainly from the guys at TSN, the holdup there was that the Blue Jackets wanted a prospect from the Kings in addition to Johnson and the pick. It's bad enough that the Blue Jackets easily won last nights trade, trading away Carter's contract and they freed up cap space but Howson is downright nuts demanding THAT in return for Jeff Carter and I think we are seeing that mentality going on with the Rangers right now. Yes, with the acquistion of Jack Johnson, if there were demands on the Rangers throwing in MDZ or McDonagh for a Nash deal to work, they probably don't exist this AM which does mean they are closer to a deal. 
• After the CBJ-LA trade last night, reports immediately popped up surrounding the availability of Kings captain Dustin Brown which I am 100% for. Apparently LA is in the midst of a "culture/regime" change and perhaps no longer thinks their captain is part of that change. So who goes in a trade?  The Kings, who are much closer to the cap ceiling than the Rangers are, took on cap space last night acquiring Jeff Carter from the Kings so I don't think they'll be in the mood of taking on more cap space in addition to trading away their captain, so Dubinsky stays. I might offer them a package of Anisimov, McIlrath or Chris Thomas and a conditional first round pick dependent on how far the Rangers advance in the playoffs. It's worth an offer for Brown who is another New Yorker, another 25 goal scorer which the Rangers need right now and most importantly fits the Rangers needs like a glove for their potential Cup run.