from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

The immediate reviews were scathing.

Nash was going to have real players to play with in Manhattan — like Brad Richards — and would be so much more than he’d been able to be in Columbus. Fifty goals was the minimum, experts figured.

The old cliché of the-team-that-gets-the-best-player-wins-the-deal was trotted out. And poor Howson was treated like a country bumpkin for his efforts, like he’d been taken to the cleaners by wily old Glen Sather.

Eight months later, Howson was fired.

Well, here we are less than two years after the trade, and suddenly Howson, now a senior executive with the Edmonton Oilers, doesn’t look quite so dumb, does he?

The Jackets are loaded with young talent, including power forward Kerby Rychel of the Guelph Storm, a likely participant in the Mastercard Memorial Cup next week who was selected with that first-round pick acquired in the Nash deal. Dubinsky was a major force in the first round against Pittsburgh, Anisimov is a regular and Erixon has earned some NHL work.

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