Brad Richards Part III: The Buy-Out!

[NYR94]

Buy him out. How do you keep a player next year making that much money who wasn't effective enough to even dress for an elimination game?

 

[Crease]

Buy him out, I am sure tons of teams will give him 3/4 mil a year.

What does this have to do with the Rangers decision-making process? Serious question. Are you just here to troll?

 

[tjs252]

If he gets injured next year, the Rangers can not buy him out. That is a MAJOR issue.

I've written my thoughts as to why this is such a foolish fear:

He's not going to voluntarily retire after 2014 with all that money due to him. Any injury he has that precludes a buyout (let's say, the dreaded "upper body injury" as the Rangers so vaguely call it) places him on LTIR, where his cap hit won't count against our cap.

Due to the nature of the amnesty buyout (all remaining $ paid over a term of years twice the remaining term, and no contractual 'offset' on future deals) the NHLPA has no real incentive to interfere with a buyout (meaning, contesting that a player is 'injured' and therefore cannot be bought out). I can't imagine the league attempting to dispute the validity of an amnesty buyout given they already bent heavily on the rules with Redden and Gomez and their "accelerate" buyout status. The player obviously wouldn't have any issues with a buyout as it's essentially making the next contract "found" money.

Really, this injury mess is much ado about nothing for a team like us where there is no such thing as a budget if you can get around the cap (like LTIR, burying the contract in the AHL, etc).

 

[Seedling]

Buy him out. How do you keep a player next year making that much money who wasn't effective enough to even dress for an elimination game?

Serious question. Torts looks like he will get fired from an outsider's perspective. Does Slats fire him and hope Richards rebounds?

 

[RangerBoy]

The next step is then obvious. The Rangers will use their one remaining compliance buyout within the new CBA to end Richards’ relationship with the team this summer. Richards, who rceived $12 million in 2011-12 and most of his $12 million for the lockout 2013 season, will get a $24 million going-away present this summer (spread out over twice the remaining seven years), removing his contract from the books and his salary from the decreasing salary cap.

Richards will then be an unrestricted free agent, able to strike a deal with any of the other 29 teams, but not with the Rangers. And he surely will resurface after a summer of conditioning, and sign somewhere at a much smaller salary.

Richards told reporters after this morning’s skate that he was “surprised†and “disappointed†about being scratched and that he would work hard to make sure this never happens again. If it does happen again, it will be elsewhere.

With Richards’ exit, that means that two-thirds of the Rangers’ first line from the start of this season will be gone, including Marian Gaborik (and his $7.5 million salary). The remaining first-line player, Rick Nash ($7.8 million) has one goal in 10 playoff games.

There had been speculation that Richards would be given one more year to try to work himself into shape this summer and see if he could resurrect his skating and overall game before being bought out next summer. But that would be too risky—and the Rangers know it—because he could be injured next season and then ineligible for the buyout, which would have to be done next summer or not at all.

http://rangers.lohudblogs.com/2013/...contract-richards-scratched-on-way-to-buyout/

 

[Ail]

Serious question. Torts looks like he will get fired from an outsider's perspective. Does Slats fire him and hope Richards rebounds?

No. Richards has thrived under Torts in his career, Torts has nothing to do with this. He is also probably not getting fired.

 

[Ail]

http://rangers.lohudblogs.com/2013/...contract-richards-scratched-on-way-to-buyout/

I stand corrected on the lump sum payout.

 

[Seedling]

No. Richards has thrived under Torts in his career, Torts has nothing to do with this. He is also probably not getting fired.

Thanks. There just seems to be a lot of speculation with the head coach. Maybe it's just media bs.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Hey man, you do realize we watch the games right? Richards was extremely lucky with some bounces he got last year. He was lucky this year to have many of his shots go in on weird bounces. He has been lucky to play with players like Nash and Gaborik who accept a pass and do a lot of the work themselves.

The next team to sign Richards will be disappointed. He is weak and slow at this point which causes all of his passes to be off.

You can try it, but don't say we didn't warn you.

Haha nahhh I never would have guessed. I'm not expecting him to be a superstar. Chicago needs a quality second line center, and Richards is still capable of putting up 60-70 points. I'm not going to nitpick how his goals went in. He still put up 66 points that season and can contribute to a lot of teams in the NHL. It may be risky, but I hope Bowman at least considers it.

A lot of teams would kill to have a guy that makes $3M/yr put up 60-70 points.

 

[Thirty One]

I think Richards would make a lot of sense for Chicago.

 

[sark76]

Last year he got by because he was our clutch goal scorer...this year...not so much. Too bad...I thought this was a good addition at the time.

...oh well... BRING UP HALEY TONIGHT!

 

[NYRKindms]

Richards to CBJ. E3

 

[NYR94]

I think Richards would make a lot of sense for Chicago.

That's what people are talking about. He could play on the second line with Kane.

 

[egelband]

I fully expect Richards to be a lot better next season than this season, but you just cannot risk the possibility of injury.

i know how you feel. but i am kind of tired of watching him. even last year, he was decent, but not really a game changer. i'd be happy to see him go, even if he did well for another team. he doesn't play the game that makes a team 'regret' losing him. his best, at this point - i think - is a nice contributor. not a dominant player. let him go and keep the roster lean and hungry.

 

[haveandare]

Honestly, the lack of produciton is one thing, and while it's a huge part of the problem, it's not the part that bothers me most. Throughout this entire season, Richards has sucked, and has been aware that he has sucked, and not even once have we heard or read or seen anything that indicates that he was working extra hard at any point. All we've seen from him in terms of reactions is woe is me BS - he was "lost and confused" and "dissapointed," and reporters wrote about him sulking around the locker room.

It's one thing to suck when you're trying real hard and being a leader, it's another thing entirely to suck and whine about it out in the open without doing a damn thing to improve yourself. That is not the work of a good teammate or leader. Get this guy away from the team.

 

[JeremyNYR]

I believe that the Rangers have already decided to buy Richards out this coming offseason and he is a healthy scratch to prevent any injury that would interfere with completing the buyout.

I don't see sitting him as an effective motivation to him or the rest of the team at this point in the season, so that's the only reason I can come up with. Well there's one other reason: He's just so awful that Torts genuinely believes Newbury brings more to the team at this point and it's worth crushing Richards' confidence even more to make the switch.

 

[qwertyaas]

Saw someone post this on Facebook and started to wonder. You think the Kaleta hit had anything to do with his play this year?

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

I get that it has to be done due to injury risk.

But I absolutely think Richards could be a 60 point player elsewhere next season. Maybe more. Depending on the situation he's put in.

At the same time I also know that if kept he would not do that as a Ranger. Too much pressure, heaviness of the situation, and the looming (inevitable) buyout next summer. Would be tough for anyone to fight through that mentally.

It's best to cut ties. It's unfortunate (to put it mildly). And I have no doubt Richards will flourish elsewhere.

If I'm being realistic, also definitely have some questions about Brassard as a top 6 C over 82 games. He has been GREAT to end the year but his knock has been consistency. Hopefully he turned a corner. Looking like another year in purgatory for the Rangers.

 

[RangerBoy]

Redden and Gomez were told to stay home because of the fear of injury. The PA and NHL agreed to allow the Rangers and Habs to use one of their two compliance buyouts on them. One time exception. LTIR comes into a play for basically a career ending injury and the player won't retire. See Pronger and Savard. The CBA doesn't allow a team to place a contract on LTIR unless the player has a serious injury. See Pronger and Savard. Those players count against the summer cap. They count on the season cap but a team can exceed the upper limit by putting the player on LTIR. Once the player is healthy,he comes off long term IR. Then you need to shed money somewhere else. The CBA doesn't allow an injured player to be bought out. The CBA doesn't allow the Rangers to shed money in the AHL anymore. Read the MOU. Its the NHL minimum salary plus $375,000. It will be $925,000 in 13-14. Anything above $925,000 counts against the cap. Besides Richards has a no movement clause which prevents him from being assigned to the AHL without his permission.

 

[skymachine]

If he gets bought out, it's pretty embarrassing to know that the 3 compliance buyouts from the latest CBA all stem from Sather issued contracts.

If that isn't grounds for losing a GM job, I don't know what is.

 

[419forever]

He's not going to voluntarily retire after 2014 with all that money due to him. Any injury he has that precludes a buyout (let's say, the dreaded "upper body injury" as the Rangers so vaguely call it) places him on LTIR, where his cap hit won't count against our cap.

Due to the nature of the amnesty buyout (all remaining $ paid over a term of years twice the remaining term, and no contractual 'offset' on future deals) the NHLPA has no real incentive to interfere with a buyout (meaning, contesting that a player is 'injured' and therefore cannot be bought out). I can't imagine the league attempting to dispute the validity of an amnesty buyout given they already bent heavily on the rules with Redden and Gomez and their "accelerate" buyout status. The player obviously wouldn't have any issues with a buyout as it's essentially making the next contract "found" money.

Really, this injury mess is much ado about nothing for a team like us where there is no such thing as a budget if you can get around the cap (like LTIR, burying the contract in the AHL, etc).

Ok, so if 6th ave doesn't stand in the way (even though they would), what about 29 other NHL teams? You think the Devils or the Penguins would be fine with the NYR circumventing the rules to save a few million/year in cap hit?

You buy him out sooner than later because you can use all the cap money you can get, especially in a season where the cap is going to decrease. It allows Sather increased flexibility and removes a potential bad situation from the locker room. The amnesty buyout is a freebie and you can bet your ass it's going to be used this summer.

 

[Samuel Culper III]

And for the record, I ****ing hate the scratch today. If you're trying to send a message to your team don't scratch Richie in an elimination game, do it Game 3, NOT WHEN YOUR SEASON IS ON THE LINE.
Anyone really think Newbury/Haley in the lineup will fare better than Richards?
This is just Tort's unconventional way of trying to light a fire under the team's ass, but it is too little, too late, and too extreme.

I basically agree with this.

Is scratching Richards for Newbury actually supposed to help the team? Or is it admitting defeat and just holding Brad accountable now that you feel the season is over and holding him accountable means absolutely nothing. I absolutely have no problem with scratching Richards, but why now and why for Newbury of all people. There is absolutely nothing Newbury and/or Haley can bring to the table to help us stay alive in this game. Richards, deserving as he is of the scratch, has a higher chance of actually picking up a point or making something happen. I have to feel like scratching Richards for Newbury, at this stage is more a classic case of Torts "punishing" a player for poor performance AFTER the punishment is no longer relevant, instead of holding him accountable 2-3 games ago when it might have actually made a difference.

 

[Zamboner]

The most frustrating thing about Richards, was not his rapid deterioration of skills -- that happens, there's nothing you can do about that -- but it was incredibly lazy play while this was happening, making me not sure if he was getting old, or simply, no longer cared. There's no excuse for that. Drury became a liability out there, but never stopped playing hard. Hell Markus Näslund, is another example of getting old with dignity (probably the best one ever, considering he walked away from guaranteed money).

Richards skills not only deteriorated, but his will to succeed on the ice went even faster. I saw Richards repeatedly refuse to back check, instead choosing to float to the center of the ice, or worse yet, the bench while an odd man rush he caused was going poor Hank's way. He got pushed off pucks without any fight. Constant reckless plays with the puck, which isn't a guy getting old, that's laziness, or apathy. And these things were common occurrences for about 80% of the games he's played here, and that's going back to last year too (which was not a good year either, despite what some claim). I have no sympathy for that or for him. I've disliked few Rangers more than I've disliked Brad Richards. Total flashback to the late 90's/Early 00's, go to the Rangers to retire while still getting paid, days. Richards was a throwback, in that sense. Good riddance to him, if he's really played his last game here. The buyout can't come fast enough.

 

[haveandare]

The most frustrating thing about Richards, was not his rapid deterioration of skills -- that happens, there's nothing you can do about that -- but it was incredibly lazy play while this was happening, making me not sure if he was getting old, or simply, no longer cared. There's no excuse for that. Drury became a liability out there, but never stopped playing hard. Hell Markus Näslund, is another example of getting old with dignity (probably the best one ever, considering he walked away from guaranteed money).

Richards skills not only deteriorated, but his will to succeed on the ice went even faster. I saw Richards repeatedly refuse to back check, instead choosing to float to the center of the ice, or worse yet, the bench while an odd man rush he caused was going poor Hank's way. He got pushed off pucks without any fight. Constant reckless plays with the puck, which isn't a guy getting old, that's laziness, or apathy. And these things were common occurrences for about 80% of the games he's played here, and that's going back to last year too (which was not a good year either, despite what some claim). I have no sympathy for that or for him. I've disliked few Rangers more than I've disliked Brad Richards. Total flashback to the late 90's/Early 00's, go to the Rangers to retire while still getting paid, days. Richards was a throwback, in that sense. Good riddance to him, if he's really played his last game here. The buyout can't come fast enough.

Exactly. Jagr has a few mediocre games, takes short shifts, starts to show some age, and what does he do? Stays on the ice late to practice. Richards has bad games, takes short shifts, makes dumb mistakes, shows his age, and what does he do? Whines to the beat writers about how he doesn't know whats wrong. Is it that hard to see? Work harder.

 

[nyranger61494]

Exactly. Jagr has a few mediocre games, takes short shifts, starts to show some age, and what does he do? Stays on the ice late to practice. Richards has bad games, takes short shifts, makes dumb mistakes, shows his age, and what does he do? Whines to the beat writers about how he doesn't know whats wrong. Is it that hard to see? Work harder.

Jagr's work ethic always was legendary. Unlike with others, he actually brought it with him to NY.