Is Brad Richards a Hall of Fame Forward?

[BlueBull]

Brad Richards's Resume is basically Justin Williams's resume, if Justin Williams was actually Valuable in the Regular Season.
932 Points in 1126 GP (The MAJORITY of his prime was in DPE), A Lady Byng Trophy, and won the Conn Smythe in 2004.

I've always considered him to be a Dark Horse Hall Candidate, and Judging by how low hall of fame Requirements can be, I think Brad Richards will be inducted in a weak class.

Do You Agree?
Let's Discuss.

 

[jigglysquishy]

He doesn't even make my Hall of Very Good. 10th in points twice. Both times was third on the Lightning in points.

All Star finishes of 5,5,6.

He flirted with being a top 10 forward in the league a few times.

He is in no way a HoF player.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

He only spent 3 years in the DPE, hardly a majority of his career.

IMO, he's not a HOF'er, he's a classic compiler. His big claim is 1 stand out playoff run, where you can argue Khabibulin should've won the Smythe.

To me his career is a slightly better David Krejci in the sense that both were very good top line/top 6 guy who stepped it up in the playoffs. Richards edges him out in the regular season, Krejci has the more complete playoff resume. Neither are Hall guys

 

[Sturminator]

He's not so different from Joe Nieuwendyk, who also doesn't belong in the hall of fame.

 

[hawksrule]

Not close.

 

[GlitchMarner]

He doesn't even make my Hall of Very Good. 10th in points twice. Both times was third on the Lightning in points.

All Star finishes of 5,5,6.

He flirted with being a top 10 forward in the league a few times.

He is in no way a HoF player.

Oh, I'd say he's Hall of Very Good. He was a top 12 scorer 4 times, top 50 scorer eight times.

I liked him a lot, but he's definitely not a Hall of Fame Player.

Similar calibre player to Joe Nieuwendyk (but not quite as good), but his career totals aren't as good and while he had success with a few different teams as well, he doesn't have the whole "Cup winner with three different teams" thing going for him. Maybe if the Rangers had won in 2014...

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

ten year prime

2003 - 24th
2004 - 9th
lockout
2006 - 12th
2007 - 40th
2008 - 25th
2009 - x
2010 - 7th
2011 - 10th
2012 - 33rd

an odd career. he was sort of an A- pass-first offensive center, not super different from marc savard but with a steadier, more consistent prime and better longevity. one and a half lockouts very likely robbed him of reaching 1,000 pts.

but that one playoff run, he was scoring huge goals left and right with that sakic-ian wrist shot that we never saw from him ever again.

 

[GMR]

No.

He has five top 10 assist finishes and three top 10 point finishes. Plus the Conn Smythe trophy.

I just don't think that's enough. Yes, there's probably someone inducted who was worse. The bar being set low makes cases like this harder unfortunately.

Oh, I'd say he's Hall of Very Good. He was a top 12 scorer 4 times, top 50 scorer eight times.

I liked him a lot, but he's definitely not a Hall of Fame Player.

Similar calibre player to Joe Nieuwendyk (but not quite as good), but his career totals aren't as good and while he had success with a few different teams as well, he doesn't have the whole "Cup winner with three different teams" thing going for him. Maybe if the Rangers had won in 2014...

Is being a top 50 scorer a thing now?

 

[GlitchMarner]

He's not so different from Joe Nieuwendyk, who also doesn't belong in the hall of fame.

I think they're very comparable.

Both could play and to some extent succeed in a 1C role, but neither was a franchise centre and both were better off being great number 2 Cs or in a 1A/1B situation.

Both had some clutch moments and had some playoff success you can look back on fondly. I think they're both generally liked in the Hockey Community and basically considered good ole Canadian boys. Of course, one was a goal scorer and the other a playmaker.


Point seems like another good comparable. Maybe Krejci and/or Couture as well. Doug Weight also comes to mind.

 

[GlitchMarner]

No.

He has five top 10 assist finishes and three top 10 point finishes. Plus the Conn Smythe trophy.

I just don't think that's enough. Yes, there's probably someone inducted who was worse. The bar being set low makes cases like this harder unfortunately.



Is being a top 50 scorer a thing now?

I mean, there are probably at least a dozen rather recent Hall of Fame inductees who were top 50 scorers no more than eight times.

If they're Hall of Famers, then he's probably Hall of Very Good (which is an entirely subjective thing, so there isn't really any point in arguing about it to begin with).

 

[NewtJorden]

He had the potential to be and he was good, just not good enough for the HoF.

 

[Gurglesons]

No way.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Doug Weight also comes to mind.

that's the perfect comparison

brad richards is doug weight with a legendary playoff run and 100 fewer hanging on for dear life games at the end of his career

 

[BlueBull]

that's the perfect comparison

brad richards is doug weight with a legendary playoff run and 100 fewer hanging on for dear life games at the end of his career

Doug Weight also comes to mind.

[Courtesy of HHOF Monitor. A @pnep stat that tries to calculate who will make based on who the Hall likes to choose. Source: "HHOF Monitor" (1917-18/2005-06) ]

Name - Career Length - Cups - Top 10 Assists - Top 10 Points - HHOF Monitor
Doug Weight - 1991-2011 - 1 - 6 Times - 1 Time - 726.5
Brad Richards - 2000-2016 - 2 - 5 Times - 3 Times - 976
Bernie Federko - 1976-1990 - 0 - 7 Times - 5 Times - 621*

*Just an Example Hall of Famer, and an excuse to laugh at Federko's Induction lol.

Brad Richards may not be a High tier Candidate, but he certainly a better candidate than Doug Weight or David Krejci.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Hmmm...that's interesting. Just how far apart are Richards and Krejci...? Is that a dumb question? I'm good for one of those a day at least...

 

[MadLuke]

I remember the Oceanic being on the phone book for the whole east of Quebec region and even talk of making their win a day of official holiday for municipal sector employee

The 1999-00 Rimouski Oceanic voted top team in Q history by the fans – LHJMQ

theqmjhl.ca

It was just after Lecavalier left that brought the spotlight and excitement in the region for them and then he had is crazy I imagine record junior season.

He is a junior HOF:

Un premier joueur de l'Océanic au Temple de la Renommée de la LHJMQ

L'ex-joueur de l'Océanic, Brad Richards, fait partie des cinq personnes qui seront intronisées au Temple de la Renomée de la Ligue de hockey junior majeure du Québec, en 2017.

ici.radio-canada.ca

And is career started like a potential dark horse one in the NHL until is 25 year's old season, a really strong debut, but fall of prime very early.

Having an hall of the very good, would he be in there, being maybe the better question here. I think he would be and the Tanguay of the world would not.

10th in points twice.

3x time:
Points

2003-04 NHL 79 (9th)

2009-10 NHL 91 (7th)

2010-11 NHL 77 (10th)

Not that far away to say Patrick Elias (3-6-10)

 

[Buffalowing1988]

I was a little taken aback to see Richards compared to Krejci. I don't doubt that Richards had the more prolific peak but figured the general sentiment would say Krejci was the better playoff performer by a wide-enough margin to separate them.

Turns out they're not as far apart as I thought (.79 ppg Krejci to .74 ppg Richards). Krejci was just ultimately a part of more successful playoff teams and I think was a more willing two-way player as well.

Nieuwendyk feels like the most apt comparison that has been made so far. His career ppg is almost identical to Richards and they both have incredibly similar hardware, from the Art Ross to the Conn Smythe to the otherwise somewhat underwhelming offensive production compared to the flashes they showed.

 

[BlueBull]

Hmmm...that's interesting. Just how far apart are Richards and Krejci...? Is that a dumb question? I'm good for one of those a day at least...

Krejci's Monitor is a 664.
Lower than Weight and Richards, but still higher then Federko lmao.

 

[MadLuke]

Turns out they're not as far apart as I thought (.79 ppg Krejci to .74 ppg Richards). Krejci was just ultimately a part of more successful playoff teams and I think was a more willing two-way player as well.

Richards won 78 playoffs games in is career, lost 68 and 2 stanley cups, was involved in 5 long playoff run

Krejci won 89 playoffs games in is career, lost 67 games and 1 stanley cup, was involved in 3 long playoff run

Richards Lighting, obviously, but Rangers-Hawks and Stars all did relatively well in the playoffs I think.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

[Courtesy of HHOF Monitor. A @pnep stat that tries to calculate who will make based on who the Hall likes to choose. Source: "HHOF Monitor" (1917-18/2005-06) ]

Name - Career Length - Cups - Top 10 Assists - Top 10 Points - HHOF Monitor
Doug Weight - 1991-2011 - 1 - 6 Times - 1 Time - 726.5
Brad Richards - 2000-2016 - 2 - 5 Times - 3 Times - 976
Bernie Federko - 1976-1990 - 0 - 7 Times - 5 Times - 621*

*Just an Example Hall of Famer, and an excuse to laugh at Federko's Induction lol.

Brad Richards may not be a High tier Candidate, but he certainly a better candidate than Doug Weight or David Krejci.

Ok, but the point of those comparisons were neither of them sniff the HOF either. He's not that far ahead of them

 

[Cursed Lemon]

He very obviously is not.

So I look forward to the bizarre justification from someone around here about how he obviously is.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

[Courtesy of HHOF Monitor. A @pnep stat that tries to calculate who will make based on who the Hall likes to choose. Source: "HHOF Monitor" (1917-18/2005-06) ]

Name - Career Length - Cups - Top 10 Assists - Top 10 Points - HHOF Monitor
Doug Weight - 1991-2011 - 1 - 6 Times - 1 Time - 726.5
Brad Richards - 2000-2016 - 2 - 5 Times - 3 Times - 976
Bernie Federko - 1976-1990 - 0 - 7 Times - 5 Times - 621*

*Just an Example Hall of Famer, and an excuse to laugh at Federko's Induction lol.

Brad Richards may not be a High tier Candidate, but he certainly a better candidate than Doug Weight or David Krejci.

it’s hard for me to imagine bernie federko being behind doug weight, let alone david krejci

brad richards, i guess they are pretty close?

federko has a ten year prime where he finished 8, 10, 9, 18 (missed six games but on pace for 14), 25 (missed five games, on pace for 19), 9, 9, on pace for 12 but missed 16 games, and 20 in the scoring race. that blows away anything richards or weight ever did, as well as many low rung hall of fame centers (ahem, nieuwendyk and sundin, and also modano to name a higher up guy).

at the same time, federko has a six year run in the 80s when he put up 72 pts in 58 playoff games, a pace of 99 pts per 80 games, including leading the league in playoff scoring in 1986. i mean, yes 80s but among all players who played 80 or more playoff games, federko is 11th all time in pts/game. and yes norris division but when he got out of his division he led both his own team and all forwards in scoring in the 1986 campbell’s finals against calgary.

david krejci led the playoffs in scoring twice, which is very impressive, but he broke the top 20 in scoring once (19th) and his next three best years were all in the 28-33 range.

doug weight broke the top ten once and has no such playoff record.

in comparison, brad richards has three top tens, a 12th (two pts out of 10th), plus the trump card of the epic conn smythe run so he can hang with federko.

 

[Buffalowing1988]

Richards won 78 playoffs games in is career, lost 68 and 2 stanley cups, was involved in 5 long playoff run

Krejci won 89 playoffs games in is career, lost 67 games and 1 stanley cup, was involved in 3 long playoff run

Richards Lighting, obviously, but Rangers-Hawks and Stars all did relatively well in the playoffs I think.

I feel like a long playoff run is an arbitrary metric. Just the sheer win total favors Krejci which I guess can be arbitrary, too, but feels like the more significant metric for playoff success.

I definitely don't want to discount Richards but his last two playoff runs with NYR and then Chicago were certainly of the passenger-quality instead of as a key contributor.

I guess I prefer Krejci because I identify him as a key member of one of the best teams of the past 15 years or so, whereas it's a little tougher to do the same for Richards.

 

[BlueBull]

it’s hard for me to imagine bernie federko being behind doug weight, let alone david krejci

brad richards, i guess they are pretty close?

Playoff success goes a long way into deciding Inductees for the hall.

Bernie Federko's Team made the Conference final all of once, and never made the Stanley Cup Finals.

Weight has a Two Finals appearances with One Cup. Krejci has Three Finals Appearances with One Cup.
Richards has made the Finals 3 Times and has won it Twice, and was an important piece in all 3 runs.


Reguardless, I'm also pretty shocked he's only at 621 as well. I thought he was the captain of St. Louis for like, the entire 80s, which would have put him in the 700 range. Apparently, he wasn't and has 621.

Still, I think I agree with buffalowing in saying he's more comparable to Nieuwendyk than Federko, and certainly has a better Resume.

 

[The Panther]

Richards has his Conn Smythe, but outside of that he's basically Jason Arnott or Doug Weight. I think Nieuwendyk is ahead of him for 50-goal seasons, breaking the Bossy-rookie record, and multiple good Cup runs.