UPDATE: Panic over McKenzie's speculated offer should subside if the NY Post's Larry Brooks is more accurate in his estimate. Brooks believes the Rangers have presented Richards with a six-to-eight year offer worth between $6.5 million and $7 million a year. That's still a ton of money and years, but much easier to swallow than the unfathomable nine-year, $63 million McKenzie guessed last night. We should know sometime this morning or early afternoon.
- In the meantime, check out this statistical analysis of Richards from last season.
LAST NIGHT: Tonight closes with this the terrifying speculation from
TSN’s usually reliable Bob McKenzie that the Rangers may be offering a
front-loaded nine-year
deal worth between $63 million and $65 million for Brad Richards.
Never mind that McKenzie thinks Calgary and Los
Angeles may have made even higher offers, the mere fact that GM Glen Sather
is prepared to toss that kind of money around is disheartening.
The crumbling
of the NHL’s economic pay scale today doesn’t changed the fact that the
Rangers have an embarrassing recent history of spending lavishly on free agents
that fall flat on their faces.
The recent successes in finding homegrown talent have been
huge steps in the right direction, but this will be a disappointing reversion
to the Rangers’ old ways if it comes to fruition.
New York
had a very good thing going with its lunch-pail young core and though adding
Richards to the mix could propel them to the next level; it will be very
difficult for Richards, or anyone else in the league, to justify that kind of
contract in the end.
Maybe McKenzie’s report is inaccurate; but it might also be
time to hope that Richards is extremely good friends with Jarome Iginla behind
the scenes, or interested in trying out the left wing in Los Angeles with his
good buddy Mike that shares the same last name, or that he has as much faith in
Phil Kessel as Toronto GM Brian Burke and wants to see the Leafs’ enigmatic
right wing fulfill his potential.
The Rangers might need one of those things to be true to
bail them out of a huge mistake.
July 1:
Blog
From July 1 >
Rangers
Sign Mike Rupp >
Rangers
Re-Sign Ruslan Fedotenko >
Rumored
Rangers' Offer To Richards Through The Roof >
Left
Wing Logjam: And Why It's Bad News For Wojtek Wolski >
Free Agency Preview:
Plan
A: Sign Brad Richards >
Plan
B: Trade For A Top Center >
Plan
C: Stick With The Status Quo At Center >
Plan
D: Add An Offensive Winger >
Plan
E: Sign An Impact Veteran UFA Defenseman >
No,
The Rangers Won't Be Giving Steven Stamkos An Offer Sheet >
