In Sunday’s New York Post, Larry
Brooks suggested that the Rangers attempt to acquire Brad Richards prior to July
1st when he’ll become a free agent so they’d have exclusive rights to
negotiate a new deal with him ahead of other teams.
Brooks believes that the extra alone time with Richards
would allow the Rangers to make sure that Richards is fully healthy and to
sensibly negotiate a contract instead of panicking when Richards hits the open
market.
Brooks believes that the Rangers might be able to pry
Richards away from Dallas with the second of the team’s second round
selections, No. 57 overall.
There’s a case to be made for both sides here.
On the one hand, it’s incredibly obvious that the Rangers
are banking on acquiring Richards and that he is a missing piece the team
desperately needs. If the Rangers think they’d have a significant
advantage over the competition if they got Richards’ rights now, that’s
something they really need to consider.
On the other hand, trading for free agents’ rights hasn’t
been a common practice in the NHL, for the simple reason that it doesn’t
necessarily accomplish a whole lot. As Brooks points out, the
Philadelphia Flyers traded for Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell back in 2007
and locked both up to long-term deals before they hit free
agency. The difference is thatPhiladelphia handed pretty big
deals to both players, probably above market value. Richards knows
that he is going to be in huge demand come July, so it makes little sense for
him to sign anywhere before he has a chance to see how high the bidding
goes. Brooks writes that since Richards is coming off a fat contract
already that he might not be looking to squeeze every dollar out of his future
team. There’s a chance that’s true, but it’s rarely the case in
professional sports.
The draft is a crapshoot, but the Rangers have picked up
Christian Thomas, Ethan Werek, Derek Stepan, Artem Anisimov, and Mike Sauer
over the last six years. Werek was swapped for Oscar Lindberg, but
the point is that the Rangers have added some big-time impact players in the
second round of the draft recently. Unless the Rangers think trading
the pick would virtually guarantee they get Richards, it might not be a
worthwhile risk to take.
Make no mistake; the Rangers know just how much they need
Richards. They won’t be topped monetarily too easily in July, so it
probably makes sense to wait. If they somehow miss out on Richards,
they might regret not trading for him, but trading for Richards’ rights
guarantees nothing and could mean the loss of a valuable asset.
Season Review:
Breaking
Down The Defense >
Breaking
Down The Goalies >
Breaking
Down The Offense >
Breaking
Down The Prospects >
How
Three Free Agent Signings In 2007 Have Shaped The Eastern Conference >
Spotlight
On Glen Sather >
Spotlight
On John Tortorella >
Player Reviews:
Spotlight
On Mats Zuccarello >
Spotlight
On Brian Boyle >
Spotlight
On Matt Gilroy >
Spotlight
On Ruslan Fedotenko >
Spotlight
On Brandon Prust >
Spotlight
On Bryan McCabe >
Spotlight
On Alex Frolov >
Spotlight
On Michael Del Zotto >
Spotlight
On Martin Biron >
Spotlight
On Brandon Dubinsky >
Spotlight
On Marc Staal >
Spotlight
On Steve Eminger >
Spotlight
On Henrik Lundqvist >
Possible First Round Pick:
Zack
Phillips >
Sven
Bartschi >
Mark
Scheifele >
Mika
Zibanejad >
Mark
McNeill >
Brandon
Saad >
Joel
Armia >
