One of the biggest decisions the Maple Leafs must make this off-season is deciding what to do with Phil Kessel.

Although Kessel is a dynamic offensive player, the Leafs have failed to surround him with talent and the team has wasted Kessel's prime years. There are still good years left for Kessel, but with the Leafs embarking on a full-scale rebuild it's likely those years will go to waste in Toronto. And by the time the Leafs start to rise from the bottom of the league, Kessel will be hitting the decline phase of his career. The wisest decision, therefore, would be to deal him this summer.

But what type of return can the Leafs get for Kessel. Luckily for us, a superstar winger with a massive contract was traded within the past few years and can give us a good idea of what Kessel might fetch in a trade. I'm referring, of course, to Rick Nash.

The San Jose Sharks are at a crossroads.

After making back-to-back Western Conference Finals in 2010 and 2011, the Sharks were ousted in the first round this season by the St. Louis Blues, a younger, faster, and hungrier squad. The Sharks squeaked out a 3-2 win in double overtime in Game 1, but lost the next four straight. Overnight, it looked like San Jose’s window to contend slammed shut.

That’s why more than any other team, the Sharks need to trade for Rick Nash.

A smile only a hockey fan could love.

Despite my outward hatred for the Flyers, I have a secret to confess: They have a really likeable team. It is a team that has everything: size, speed, power, and finesse. Well, everything except goaltending that is. The only thing that isn’t likeable about them is that they are THE PHILADELPHIA FLYERS! Satan’s henchmen, I say.

But temporarily putting aside how loathsome the Flyers are as an entity, their players are awesome to watch.

Claude Giroux is fantastic, both offensively and defensively. He’s a great centreman, which is even more impressive considering he isn't your prototypical hulking centre. Philly could have 10 Zac Rinaldos and they would still be secretly likeable if they still had one Claude Giroux.

Wayne Simmonds is a big, strong, power-forward, who goes to the dirty areas and has even scored a goal with his face. I’m convinced that the only hockey player (not goon) that can counter Milan Lucic is Simmonds. We might even get to see that play out in round 2.

Danny Briere is a big-game, money player, which is always a cool narrative to see actually play out, unlike other “big-game” players (hint: Marc-Andre Fleury) that are only clutch in reputation.

Plus, they have Schenn the Good, or Good Schenn, depending on your dialect. Sure, watching him makes me a little sad on the inside as Nazem Kadri rots in the minors and Luke Schenn gets crushed by all the buses he’s under, but that doesn’t deter me from cheering for Brayden.

But the player that has most impressed me is Sean Couturier. It’s amazing to think the Blue Jackets traded both Couturier and Jakub Voracek for a couple months of Jeff Carter—a couple of injury-filled, petulant, unproductive months.

Read my latest post at The Good Point to find out what young Couturier has done to win me over.

Rick Nash is on the block. After a dismal season in Columbus it appears as if the franchise winger is available at the right price, for the right team.

Did you hear that? RICK NASH! First overall pick. Olympian. Maurice Richard winner. Prisoner of Columbus. That Rick Nash.

On Monday, RDS reported Nash was on the market, and on Tuesday the Columbus Dispatch confirmed that the Blue Jackets were willing to listen to offers for the face of the franchise.

In less than a week Nash went from untouchable to available. Things change quickly in the NHL.

It's amazing that Columbus would let GM Scott Howson deal the most important player in the history of the Blue Jackets, but you don't have a perennial cellar dweller by doing things the right way. Regardless, Nash is a premier talent and teams will be lining up for his services.

However, Nash has a no-movement clause, and TSN reports that he has likely given a very small list of teams that he would willingly play for. That means even if every team in the league sent a trade proposal to Howson, he immediately must disregard almost all of them, or at the very least give a quick glance and cry over potential missed opportunities.

From now until the deadline, all you're going to read or hear about is Rick Nash. The prevailing thought is that any team would be crazy not to go all in on Nash. Unfortunately, it's not quite so simple. Nash would be a great fit for some teams, but not others. I'm not convinced the Maple Leafs are the former.

To figure it all out I debated myself in a segment I like to call "Point/Counterpoint".

After taking a couple months hiatus, I am back writing for The Good Point. I should have a piece out every other Thursday.

Today I wrote about the sorry state of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The vultures are certainly circling as the team rots in last place, and plenty of Leafs fans have turned their dreams of Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf into dreams of Jeff Carter and Rick Nash.

According to Sportsnet reporter John Shannon, close friends of Nash are saying the star winger is willing to waive his no-trade clause, but won't outright ask for a trade. Whether true or not, it has certainly fueled the speculation that Nash is on his way out of Columbus.

Elliotte Friedman of CBC made an excellent point in his 30-thoughts column this week, saying that with the Blue Jackets hosting the All-Star game next season, how can they trade Nash beforehand? Who is going to get the home fans excited?

In my article for The Good Point I'm actually defending the Blue Jackets and saying that a rebuild now might be one of the worst moves the franchise can make. Seeing how Columbus is pretty much the antithesis to a model expansion franchise they probably won't heed my advice.