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Should Brad Richards be a healthy scratch?

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nyrleetch said:
Not sure about scratched but get him away from St. Louis and Hagelin. Why put your slowest player with those two?
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Simple. To protect Richards. Hags and marty can help make up for how slow Richards is.

Put Richards with other slow players and that line is even worse

I would love to see marty and hags with a center who could skate though. That line would probably be fun to watch
 
The OP can be answered in degrees.

Early on, it's semi-bad. Still take Miller or even Lindberg.
The longer the minutes, the more horribly terri-bad he becomes.
Completely exhausted.
Def holding back MSL + Hags.

You guys get on my case, but this is an example proving my point.
It's great to have team loyalty, but don't let it be blind.
Rangers need more + better horses.
During regular season, w/shootouts, this weakness not as visible.
But because we don't have the ability to dominate and end series early,
there is a CUMULATIVE tiredness that affects the entire team. Obviously, some handle it better than others, but all are tired.
 
Hard decision. He is the de facto captain. Miller might give you more in Richard's slot but you have to consider whether it would affect the locker room. This isn't a video game.
 
Crease said:
Hard decision. He is the de facto captain. Miller might give you more in Richard's slot but you have to consider whether it would affect the locker room. This isn't a video game.
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I do agree. MSL could be the de facto captain and maybe we get more than what we get when Richards is in the lineup. He looks shot physically and mentally.
 
He dogged it last night. I can't understand with everything that is on the line, that Richards is having a bad hockey day.

It's not that he can't skate, but he wasn't trying. Last night he went through the motions and it cost the team the game. He feels the tiniest bit of pressure and he'll turn the puck over.

Also for the 3rd time in the last 2 playoffs, a goal was scored in OT because John Moore couldn't tie up a stick. Learning curve is a very long one with that one.
 
He's better than any alternative we currently have now. His legs are just straight up gone. This has been a long season for him, and conditioning seems to be an issue. It's gonna happen, and it's unfortunate.

Sather going to have to get very creative to fill the hole left by a Richards buyout. Center depth next year shaping up to be quite questionable.

I think he needs to be taken off the PP, though. That's a start to keep him fresher at ES.
 
Mikos87 said:
He dogged it last night. I can't understand with everything that is on the line, that Richards is having a bad hockey day.

It's not that he can't skate, but he wasn't trying. Last night he went through the motions and it cost the team the game. He feels the tiniest bit of pressure and he'll turn the puck over.

Also for the 3rd time in the last 2 playoffs, a goal was scored in OT because John Moore couldn't tie up a stick. Learning curve is a very long one with that one.
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McD was the one in front. Not Moore
 
It should be Miller over richards...Some people are calling for carcillo with Moore centering 3rd line. I disagree, I wouldn't touch the 4th line they have been excellent. ..The decision should be Miller or richards. AV is in a tough spot here no question. Also some are complaining about millers defense, I would take millers defense any day over richards. Mentally and physically he looks done
 
Yeah, I'm not sure how Miller could be any worse than Richards defensively at this point. Richards has been a turnover machine and just can't win any battles. Miller can keep up with Hags and MSL, he can take the body, he can win board battles, he's got his legs. Richards is done. I don't see how we win with him dragging down our PP and 3rd line.
 
Sadly, it's at a point where removing Richards almost becomes addition by subtraction. It would be one thing is he wasn't scoring, but added some steady D, help on transition, a forecheck... anything. But his line and the PP honestly almost have to score or prevent goals in spite of him. I mean this is a guy who was paid 9 million dollars this season and he is unwilling to even take a hit in the SCF to make a play. I do not observe almost any ways he is helping the team on the ice; I do see many ways he is hurting the team. He is a liability right now and it appears replacing him or making sure he sees almost no ice time cannot make the team any worse than with him on the ice and may actually improve the team's chances to win and give his linemates a body with a pulse.
 
Brad Richards had the game on his stick yesterday and blew it. completely inexcusable. He looks gassed and emotionally spent the further along we've gotten in these playoffs.

You can't bench him now, it's just dumb. He's still capable of making a big play or scoring a big goal. I would just play him limited minutes.

Look at it this way, it makes his buyout this summer a lot easier to handle.
 
It's incredible that he's just 33 and looks older than Jágr or Selänne out there. But that said, he still has the veteran qualities and it's too late now to replace someone like that. Whether he should still remain for another year is a question mark, but for this run for the cup he will remain important no matter what.
 
Richards is out of gas--he's trying, but when you're more than a step slow, trying hard is not enough.

But, at this point, gotta dance with them that brought you--benching him is not going to happen. AV has to think about moving someone else into his power play spot though--and soon.
 
Just limit his minutes. He's been playing an extra ~4-5 minutes per night on the power play that are killing him down the stretch in games. That unit hasn't made anything happen yet anyway, so why the insistence on using it?

That said, even without those extra minutes Richards has been the worst player on this team by a lot in the final. The guy has nothing left. He can't get out of his own way and it looks like his legs are completely shot. I don't think it'd be a bad idea to say "hey man, let's have you sit this next one out and we'll get you back in for Game 4".
 
Yes but it won't happen. I thought LA started to look exhausted and now the games are every 2 days. They are playing Doughty half the game. I would put Miller on the third line but it won't happen.
 
Who replaces him if he is bought out? Seriously.

Don't answer with free agent, X, Y, Z. Who from within the organization?
 
JT Miller manages the puck better than Brad Richards. :)

Aye Yai Yai

The Rangers have nobody better than Richards right now. He needs to get his ass together and drink those protein drinks. Maybe give him a B12 shot for some energy. How can he be tired? The Rangers had 5 days off. Played on Wednesday. Two days off. Played last night.
 
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