Rick Nash was selected 1st overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nash has played all of his NHL seasons to date for Columbus. His best NHL season to date was 2003-04, when he scored 41 goals, sharing the league lead with Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk. With 41 goals, and 16 assists, Nash finished the year with 57 points.

 

Nash played for Hockey Club Davos, of Switzerland, during the 2004-05 NHL lockout. He scored 26 goals, assisted on 20 more, and had 81 penalty minutes in 44 games, and he added 11 more points (9 goals, 2 assists) with 26 penalty minutes in 15 games in the NLA playoffs as Davos went on to win the Swiss Championship that season. Nash was also with Davos when they won the 2004 Spengler Cup.

 

Nash played for Canada at the 2005 World Hockey Championship along with Davos teammate Joe Thornton. Nash led the tournament in goals as Canada finished second in the tournament.

Knee and ankle injuries sidelined Nash for much of the first half of the 2005-06 NHL season. He played in only three of Columbus' first 31 games, ending his second trip to the injured reserve list on December 18. Shortly after being activated he was selected to play for Canada in the 2006 Olympics. Canada finished seventh.

 

In February 2007, he was named to the Western Conference All-Star Team for the second time in his career. He has been Columbus' lone representative both times. Nash scored the game-winning goal in the West win.

 

He was the MVP of the 2007 Canadian IIHF World Championship team that won gold in a 4-2 win against Finland in Moscow.