The Leafs and Brad Richards

The Maple Leafs want to be in on the free agent bidding for Brad Richards.

If there is any.

This, obviously, could be a situation similar to that in 2009 when Brian Burke quietly journeyed to Sweden on the final day of June hoping to be able to present the Sedin twins with contract offers the next day. Vancouver GM Mike Gillis, however, beat Burke to the punch, and Daniel and Henrik stayed out west.

This time around, Burke would like to at least have a chance to negotiate with Richards, and it's been suggested he might be willing to, if not break the bank, do some things contractually that he hasn't be willing to do before in Toronto.

Like go beyond five years. Not anything crazy along the lines of those 10, 12-year contracts, but perhaps seven or eight.

And Dion Phaneuf's $6.5 million annual cap hit would not be any kind of artificial individual cap for the Leafs. It's understood that Richards will go north of $7 mlllion, and possibly $8 million, in his new deal.

Now whether the Rangers or Kings would be willing to do more, well, we'll see.

But the real challenge for the Leafs is that Richards may not get to July 1st. Before the March trade deadline, Dallas GM Joe Nieuwendyk was asking prospects and picks in exchange for Richards and the right to talk about a new contract with the veteran centre.

That could well happen again before July 1st. The Stars are in a team in iimbo, with Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi expected to buy the club from Tom Hicks (remember the days when American businessmen like John McCaw and George Gillette were buying Canadian NHL teams??) but not before the club is run through some kind of "organized" bankruptcy proceeding to clear it of creditors. Dallas reports have suggested that may not happen until late June, and even then, would give Gaglardi very little time to decide on whether he wants to try and negotiate a new contract with Richards or whether Nieuwendyk should be authorized to trade exclusive negotiating rights with the centre to get a package in return.

The Stars are also looking for a head coach to replace Marc Crawford. Obviously, to have any chance of retaining Richards, they'd want to hire a coach he might prefer. So that's a further complication.

So the timing here could get very, very delicate.

In theory, the Leafs could get in on trying to buy the rights to negotiate with Richards, but not if it costs them a top prospect like Nazem Kadri. They just don't have enough in the cupboard to start giving those up, particularly without a deal in place for Richards. That's not even considering getting team doctors to have a look at him, something clubs may want to do because of the serious concussion Richards had this season.

Clearly, Burke's preference would be to wait until July 1st. But he knows Philly landed Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timmonen a couple of years ago from Nashville in this way and benefitted from that aggressive move, and he also knows the market for No. 1 centres via trade or free agency looks mighty slim this summer. He also knows he could have made a trade for Marc Savard last summer and been the one holding the bag when Savard was lost to another concussion.

This could be the biggest call of Burke's career in Toronto. If he even gets a chance to make one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Ian]

Burke is an old school thinker. Richards and Phaneuf are not where the Leafs should be investing the bulk of their money. Good teams are investing in younger players that have lots of potential, not players past their prime.

[Greg]

"When khardri and COlbourn are ready to take #1 (if), it will be about the same time that richards is ready to move into a secondary roll."
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The problem with that scenario is that at your hypothetical point in time when Richards is ready to move into a secondary role, he'll still be getting paid first line superstar money. And it will be right around the same time that Kadri and Colborne (if either works out) get expensive as well.

[Keen]

If Savard were playing with the Leafs, he wouldn't have been playing in that game where he got the concussion.

[Ostrich_Lover]

Hey dude, how is Phaneuf "past his prime" last time I checked, he was less than a third into a hall of fame career. He is 24 or 25 and played the last third of the season as one of the top ten defenceman in hockey. Watch for Phaneuf to score 20 goals this year and win the Norris.

[Matt Taylor]

I think the appropriate quote here would be: "don't pay for something that you can get for free" Signing Richards costs money, trading for Statsny/Mike Richards/Carter or anyone else costs money AND players/picks. To me, that's a pretty simple point. Progress is not giving up a first round pick, a prospect like Frattin or Kadri, and a player like Grabo or Gunarrson to get 1 player. Statsny, for example would be $6.6 Million on the salary cap, not extraordinarily different from Richards' cap hit. Statsny too has had some injury problems, he lost a good chunk of last year to a knee injury.

Signing Brad Richards does not cost the Leafs anything but money, and you have to pay that same money to any player you trade for. Whether it's free agency or a trade, getting a new player is inherently risky, but with Kadri and Colborne a few years away from being able to be a #1 guy, the Leafs have no other option

[Fraser Link]

Counterpoint to the posters criticizing Richards:

I have watched Brad Richards play since he was 16, seeing him play more times in person than I can count and, I have to say, I don't understand the negative feedback here on his play. This guy has won a cup and a Conn Smythe and has accomplished *so* much more than the other players (Pavelski? Spezza? Nash?) whose names are being kicked around here. He's incredibly underappreciated because of the market he plays in ...

I realize the concussion is a risk and it's a gamble, but this is a guy who:

i) Knows how to win (a Memorial Cup with Rimouski and a Stanley Cup)
ii) Is a proven scorer/setup man, even during *down* seasons (You wanna see how good Kessel could be? Put him on Richards' wing)
iii) Is just at the right age to provide veteran leadership for five or six years ... I would be comfortable with a contract of that length ... it's great that we've got all these budding 20-somethings, but those kids also need to learn how to win and how to handle themselves in a buzzing market and I can think of no one in this year's free agent class better suited to take up that mantle than Richards.

Sadly, I don't think Brad Richards will end up in Toronto ... I think there will be too much pressure on Burke *not* to break the bank for Richards, but I have to say, I dearly would love to see him wearing the blue and white at the ACC in October.

[Ostrich_Lover]

That is an interesting counter point you may have me convinced. The only thing I worry about is concussions.

[KD]

@Fraser Link:
I don't think everyone is questioning Richards' abilities as a player, but rather whether he is the right fit for the Leafs. I agree with most of what you say, but I think a team of young players on the rise doesn't need a veteran in his twilight years.

[Emblem Dear]

Richards, Stamkos....Jean Beliveau...here we go again.
The writers need to write and there are so many supine, cheated Leaf fans out there that continue to devour this stuff.
In the meantime Burke lines up Primeau, Korbinian Holzer, an Exelby here....a Versteeg there and meanwhile the coach gets all the blame.
Give it a rest....how about shutting the hockey sport pages now for 2 months...it is all BS during this period. (Do you really want to hear the Leaf brain trust say again after the draft.."we never dreamed this guy would be available in round 3...we had him as a top ten player")
And you Leaf fans..YOU are the problem..because you just sit and take it!
(Boston's 7th major Sports championship in 10 years....we are in the same 5 Leagues in Toronto if you include the Bills and we can't even get in the playoffs in any of these.....