It won't be the Toronto Maple Leafs, but The New York Rangers who have a new star forward.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have one less headache and three more quality players.

The Blue Jackets finally met captain Rick Nash's mid-season request and dealt him on Monday along with a third-round pick and a minor-league defenceman to the Rangers for centres Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov, defenceman Tim Erixon and a first-round pick next year.

The deal gives the Rangers a big, sturdy right wing to add to their core of solid young players and also helps them counter moves made by other Eastern Conference powers this off-season.

Nash will join a New York offence that includes captain Ryan Callahan, Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik.

The Rangers were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season and just missed out on the Presidents' Trophy for most regular-season points. New York defeated Ottawa and Washington in the playoffs before losing to New Jersey in the conference finals in six games.

Nash immediately improves their credentials and gets them closer to their first Stanley Cup since 1994. 

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, ended months of speculation about what they would do after Nash went to management in January and asked to be traded. He later said, in a curious bit of logic, that one of his main goals was making the Blue Jackets stronger.

The Leafs had long been rumoured to be making a pitch for the high scoring forward.