Brad Richards appreciation thread

[DekeR]

Too bad you couldn't put the contracts all in a folder and buy out the folder.

 

[Kakko]

Unlike some, I'm too lazy to go back and find the posts I made about this, but I was 100% for keeping Richards

 

[Tawnos]

Right now Richards looks like the player I remember from Dallas. That's something that hasn't been true in either of the seasons he has played for the Rangers, and that includes the stretch at the end of 11-12 where he was putting up a lot of points.

We will see if it lasts, because I'm still concerned about his reaction time, but right now it looks good.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

I'm gonna be that ****** that no one likes that says "I told you so"

I said he was gonna play well again and I'm proud of myself

You cant do an I told you so after the season he just had you can only say "Thanks for showing up I guess". I've said this many times so far this season

I am still terrified he'll get injured and we have to keep him beyond this year bc last season was very likely a preview of the very near future

 

[SA16]

This best thing about Richards, besides his decisiveness this year, is that he likes to shoot on the point and is very accurate. It actually really surprises me he's never scored 30 goals in a year with how often he likes to shoot and how accurate his shot is - though could be just that he's more willing to fire low shots toward the goalie and get a rebound than trying to pick a corner.

 

[JimmyG89]

If he can play like this, there is no reason to buy him out. There will be cap space to keep him. Look at all the other UFAs we have and I think if his performance continues, he stays and others would go. I think others would go away first anyway (Boyle, Pyatt, Moora, Asham) and be able to replace with alternative/younger options and keep Richards.

The Cap will go up. There will be space for him. There are young guys on cheaper deals to replace some more expensive players.

 

[theFiGS]

If he can play like this, there is no reason to buy him out. There will be cap space to keep him. Look at all the other UFAs we have and I think if his performance continues, he stays and others would go. I think others would go away first anyway (Boyle, Pyatt, Moora, Asham) and be able to replace with alternative/younger options and keep Richards.

The Cap will go up. There will be space for him. There are young guys on cheaper deals to replace some more expensive players.

I agree with this, cap should go up over the next year or 2 just gotta hope he's not doing this for just this year as a way to stay on the team or he's approaching this as a contract year. We can't keep guys like you named forever they have no goal scoring ability which is what we lack

 

[SkjeiPls]

Absolutely love what Richards is doing this year. I'm very glad we didn't trade him/buy him out.

 

[haveandare]

I thought he looked like crap in the pre-season, but he's really come on since then. Good for him. I'd love nothing more than to have the decision of buying him out or not be a hard one at the end of the season.

 

[JohnC]

You cant do an I told you so after the season he just had you can only say "Thanks for showing up I guess". I've said this many times so far this season

No. I can and I did. I was very much for keeping Richards this summer

 

[Fitzy]

He has looked better, more like his first year with us.

But still nothing like he looked in Dallas before the concussion, to me. He lost a lot of swagger after that, just in the confidence of his game.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

No. I can and I did. I was very much for keeping Richards this summer

I should have said that differently "You can't do an I told you so only 4 games into a season after watching an entire season of awfulness bc you take the risk that there is a high likelihood that the small sample size is a tease". It's more of a shouldn't than a can't I suppose. Similarly to someone looking at his hat trick last season and going "he's back for the rest of the season" In the end if you're wrong I guess it doesn't matter and I hope you're right b/c it's better having a good player instead of a horrific one. It certainly looks like he will have a good season and this 4 game sample size is not a fluke.

Your post seems to be a good example of premature boasting. Suppose he gets injured and we have to keep him and he sucks total ass the rest of his contract? Posting what you did seems wholly ignorant of this possibility but it's a very real possibility. There are big reasons outside of his play this season why people were not thrilled with the prospect of bringing him back

If you think he'll be good the next 3 years then fine I would agree with you but it seems like you are only thinking of how he plays this year

 

[Jauffre]

Just about the only player to show up these first 5 games. Looks very quick on the puck, makes the right passes, has the confidence to hold onto the puck that extra half second to make the best pass, but also wastes no time when taking the shot. This is the Brad Richards we're paying for. Not only is this 100x better than BR last season, but this is the best he's looked as a Ranger. He sees the game so well, and now that his confidence is there, and he's in shape, it's showing.

 

[Raspewtin]

if only he could somehow get everyone else to play as confident and intelligently. Even when he turns the puck over, 70% of the time he can get the puck right back, or poke the puck away. That's the biggest standout of his game so far, other than his great decisiveness (which he lacked last year), he recovers from mental gaffes really quickly. I don't think he has had a bad game yet. Way to go, Richie.

 

[TheTakedown]

Unlike some, I'm too lazy to go back and find the posts I made about this, but I was 100% for keeping Richards

At first, I was not... I was hoping he'd bought out, but then I saw some interesting posts about actually REPLACING him.... and then realized that we might get stuck with david ****ing clarkson, afterwhich i realized a 30 goal 1C that knows the game is VERY hard to replace. Which leads me to my next point

If he can play like this, there is no reason to buy him out. There will be cap space to keep him. Look at all the other UFAs we have and I think if his performance continues, he stays and others would go. I think others would go away first anyway (Boyle, Pyatt, Moora, Asham) and be able to replace with alternative/younger options and keep Richards.

The Cap will go up. There will be space for him. There are young guys on cheaper deals to replace some more expensive players.

The cap is supposed to go up to 80M in the next 3-5 years, no? if that is the case, I think we can afford to keep him, which again goes back to the question of WHO could replace Richards and consistently put up points? If Richards can keep doing it, it's worth the risk.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...lary-cap-could-hit-90-million/article7029575/

 

[Whoot Whoot]

Richie way to turn it around. Much appreciated.

 

[UlfNilsson]

If he can play like this, there is no reason to buy him out. There will be cap space to keep him. Look at all the other UFAs we have and I think if his performance continues, he stays and others would go. I think others would go away first anyway (Boyle, Pyatt, Moora, Asham) and be able to replace with alternative/younger options and keep Richards.

The Cap will go up. There will be space for him. There are young guys on cheaper deals to replace some more expensive players.

Agreed. If he hits the numbers that the organization was looking for when they signed him to this contract they will keep him on board. Basically he would be fulfilling his end of the bargain and the Rangers would getting what they were paying for. The cap is going up. It's hard to replace a player like him if he continues to play at this level. You'd end up signing another FA to another crazy contract anyway, and who's out there when free agency starts? You won't know until then, and it guaranteed that the majority of the good players will re-sign with their current teams prior to free agency with the way things have been trending lately.

 

[AIexisLafreniereNYR]

I love his effort so far, he's playing extremely well.. But I still think he should be bought out. Just wish his contract was a couple years shorter.

 

[Machinehead]

I love his effort so far, he's playing extremely well.. But I still think he should be bought out. Just wish his contract was a couple years shorter.

Well if he does have a great year and still gets bought out, at least I'll say -to steal some cues from The Godfather- last year it was personal, this year it's strictly business.

 

[Fanned On It]

He'd look even better if the rest of our team was playing to their potential. He'd probably have a few more assists/points as well.

 

[marciiauzii]

Loving it, but its still only 5 games.

 

[Ail]

He has looked better, more like his first year with us.

But still nothing like he looked in Dallas before the concussion, to me. He lost a lot of swagger after that, just in the confidence of his game.

Yep. He is not the player I enjoyed watching and drafting every year in fantasy hockey, but at least he's not beaver again.

Also, this thread, too soon. Let's hope he stays healthy because he still has to be bought out.

 

[Boruto]

This place is pathetic. From any one individual, it's fine. Not specifying to OP, the fact that there's a Brad Richards appreciation thread is just.... distasteful. As a board, you can't go from ******** on him and calling him a waste of life and disgrace to having an appreciation thread. The panic around here is like crazy religious nuts all preparing for their respective ruptures.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

Too early to be critical of the team as a whole but Richards gets an appreciation thread 5 games into the season.

You guys are really something sometimes. I like how he has played but I'm not going to proclaim ill eat crow right now.

 

[pld459666]

Still getting bought out.