"It took eight seasons for the Blue Jackets to finally acquire an All-Star center, Jeff Carter, to play alongside Rick Nash.
It took less than three months for the foundering Blue Jackets to break up their marquee pairing. Nash and Carter skated on separate lines for the first time in a loss on Sunday at St. Louis and likely will do so again tonight against the Nashville Predators.
After Carter was acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers in June, Nash envisioned a potent partnership, such as those formed by Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg in Detroit and Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau in San Jose.
But Nash said he wasn't surprised when Mark Letestu joined Carter and Vinny Prospal on a line and Nash moved to a line with Derick Brassard and R.J. Umberger."
