"When he's old and grey, Rick Nash might still be getting razzed by his hometown buddies for not putting himself in a position to become a Toronto Maple Leaf.

The Brampton native almost can hear the questions now.

Why didn't you allow your contract to run out with the Blue Jackets so you could have signed with the beloved Leafs?

Why, instead, did you ink an eight-year, $62.4-million US extension in the summer of 2009, thereby squashing any chance of one day wearing blue and white?

"Oh ya, I don't think I'll ever hear the end of it," Nash laughed during a phone interview from Columbus on Wednesday. "My friends already have been bugging me about it.

"That's going to happen. When you grow up in the Toronto area, it's all about the Leafs. But Columbus is a great city and I just felt it has been the perfect fit for me."

Prior to the Nash extension, FAN 590/Sportsnet hockey analyst Doug MacLean, who, in his former life as the Blue Jackets GM actually drafted Nash first overall in 2002, remained his biggest booster and said the Leafs should be extremely proactive if and when Nash became available on the free agent market."