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Speculation: The Offseason Thread V: Needs to End Edition

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hell even a mildly well productive Richards would be a huge boost. If he could get 50-60 points while playing good defense and not turning the puck over 3 times a shift, it would help a lot.
 
billyhauntswizards said:
hell even a mildly well productive Richards would be a huge boost. If he could get 50-60 points while playing good defense and not turning the puck over 3 times a shift, it would help a lot.
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He was on pace for 60 last season. I think the consistently terrible decision making was a byproduct of being out of shape and unprepared for the season to start. The game was moving too fast for him. Its a hole he was unable to climb out of throughout the course of a shortened year. Now, thats on him, but I think hes got too much pride to let that happen again.

I just find it odd so many people are ready and willing to write him off as a lost cause. The guy has been a good enough player to receive the benefit of the doubt this season until proven otherwise.
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
He was on pace for 60 last season. I think the consistently terrible decision making was a byproduct of being out of shape and unprepared for the season to start. The game was moving too fast for him. Its a hole he was unable to climb out of throughout the course of a shortened year. Now, thats on him, but I think hes got too much pride to let that happen again.

I just find it odd so many people are ready and willing to write him off as a lost cause. The guy has been a good enough player to receive the benefit of the doubt this season until proven otherwise.
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Any professional athlete--let alone one making one of the highest salaries in his sport--that does not prepare properly and is a detriment to his team has no forgiveness from me. Such a mistake keeping him this offseason...I'm sure we'll see him start slow out of the gate; i just hope we have the balls to sit him up in the press box to avoid an injury and avoid having him cripple us til 2020, but I know we would never do that...
 
McSauer said:
Any professional athlete--let alone one making one of the highest salaries in his sport--that does not prepare properly and is a detriment to his team has no forgiveness from me. Such a mistake keeping him this offseason...I'm sure we'll see him start slow out of the gate; i just hope we have the balls to sit him up in the press box to avoid an injury and avoid having him cripple us til 2020, but I know we would never do that...
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He was on pace for ~60 points last year. I'd take 60 points from this teams #2 center and run.
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
He was on pace for 60 last season. I think the consistently terrible decision making was a byproduct of being out of shape and unprepared for the season to start. The game was moving too fast for him. Its a hole he was unable to climb out of throughout the course of a shortened year. Now, thats on him, but I think hes got too much pride to let that happen again.

I just find it odd so many people are ready and willing to write him off as a lost cause. The guy has been a good enough player to receive the benefit of the doubt this season until proven otherwise.
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that is Richards fault for being out of shape and not ready for the season... i wouldnt want a young team of younger players to learn that from him.. Richards should have been the leader that players talk about.... i wouldnt want a leader on my team to have my traits like being out of shape and lazy and being old as an excuse...
 
McSauer said:
Any professional athlete--let alone one making one of the highest salaries in his sport--that does not prepare properly and is a detriment to his team has no forgiveness from me. Such a mistake keeping him this offseason...I'm sure we'll see him start slow out of the gate; i just hope we have the balls to sit him up in the press box to avoid an injury and avoid having him cripple us til 2020, but I know we would never do that...
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You have every right to be pissed at his performance last season. What I dont understand is the propensity to throw everything but the kitchen sink at him in terms of complaints for what the future might hold, and right him off as a lost cause.

Put me down as someone who thinks he will have a solid bounce back year.
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
You have every right to be pissed at his performance last season. What I dont understand is the propensity to throw everything but the kitchen sink at him in terms of complaints for what the future might hold, and right him off as a lost cause.

Put me down as someone who thinks he will have a solid bounce back year.
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I think he'll bounce back as well. I dont think he will be the guy were paying him to be, but he will be better. Still need to get rid of him after this year regardless of how he plays.
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
A rejuvenated Richards is just as good as Stepan and definitely better than Brassard.
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Absolutely! People forget that Richards has been a legit 1C in this league for a long time. If he is really in shape, betcha he starts out as no worse than our 2C.
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
You have every right to be pissed at his performance last season. What I dont understand is the propensity to throw everything but the kitchen sink at him in terms of complaints for what the future might hold, and right him off as a lost cause.

Put me down as someone who thinks he will have a solid bounce back year.
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Count me in as well.
 
DudMan28 said:
I think he'll bounce back as well. I dont think he will be the guy were paying him to be, but he will be better. Still need to get rid of him after this year regardless of how he plays.
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The way the CBA is written, we have no choice but to cut him loose after this year.
 
DudMan28 said:
Did he really play like a 60 point center though?
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What does that mean? If he was on pace for 60 points, then yes.

And the fact of the matter is, he didn't even play well. If he can play that poorly (which I doubt he replicates) and still score at a 60 point season pace isn't that a good sign he will most likely be better?
 
DudMan28 said:
Did he really play like a 60 point center though?
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Not really. Even if we disregard his careless play and solely focus on production, his "60" points were pretty useless since he scored like a 4th liner when the games were close.

Zone start adjusted figures:

P/60 Close: 1.198
P/60 Trailing: 1.494
P/60 Leading: 4.250
P/60 Up 2+: 5.56

9 out of 23 ES points came when the Rangers were up by 2 or more.

Compare his numbers to Derek Stepan's:

P/60 Close: 2.93
P/60 Trailing: 2.49
P/60 Leading: 3.43
P/60 Up 2+: 1.68
 
Michael Russo ‏@Russostrib 2m
Ryan McDonagh just stickhandled by 3 guys and scored a sick top-shelfer thru traffic. @jclong & crew captured for evening news
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Sounds awesome..
 
Punxrocknyc19 said:
that is Richards fault for being out of shape and not ready for the season... i wouldnt want a young team of younger players to learn that from him.. Richards should have been the leader that players talk about.... i wouldnt want a leader on my team to have my traits like being out of shape and lazy and being old as an excuse...
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Not really sure what you're getting at here. Unless Richards was openly campaigning for players to eat donuts in between periods, this is a non-issue for me. Hes still a well-respected player in this league, and it'll take more than a very poor 48 game season to convince me otherwise.

In a matter of just a couple months and a haphazardly thrown together short season, most Ranger fans determined that John Tortorella is not the right coach for this team and Brad Richards is a lost cause. Typical knee-jerk crap.
 
I have no doubt Richards will look better on opening night then he did at any point last season.

I just extremely question if he'll look as good in GM82 13/14 as he does in GM1 13/14.
 
If Brad Richards can return to his old form, then he's an asset to the team. However, I just can't buy into the excuse that he was out of shape. He was average at best in his first season, and he was "in shape" then. Coming into camp out of shape is one thing, but playing an entire season and being unable to get yourself "into shape" during that time is quite another.

Not only did he look slow, but his decision making was awful. For a guy who has been billed as one of the top playmakers in the game, it's pretty damn alarming to see him make so many awful plays and passes to nowhere. His puck distribution on the PP was horrendous as well.

Unless he ends up as a PPG center again, I think it's inevitable that he's bought out. If that's the case, then I'm not pleased with him eating up ice time that could be better used by players who are part of the future.
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
Not really sure what you're getting at here. Unless Richards was openly campaigning for players to eat donuts in between periods, this is a non-issue for me. Hes still a well-respected player in this league, and it'll take more than a very poor 48 game season to convince me otherwise.

In a matter of just a couple months and a haphazardly thrown together short season, most Ranger fans determined that John Tortorella is not the right coach for this team and Brad Richards is a lost cause. Typical knee-jerk crap.
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I wouldn't call Richards a lost cause but my concern stems from the fact that his numbers have declined since 2010. I am hopeful that last year's underwhelming season was more a product of being out of shape as you say than a continuation of the decline. Hopefully, he is as prideful and professional as those who know him say he is and he brings it this year. I wanted him gone for the injury risk and buyout implications so, really looking for things to go well for him and the team this year.
 
NYR Viper said:
What does that mean? If he was on pace for 60 points, then yes.

And the fact of the matter is, he didn't even play well. If he can play that poorly (which I doubt he replicates) and still score at a 60 point season pace isn't that a good sign he will most likely be better?
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Games 41-46 are the only reason he is on that pace. 11 of his 34 points came in games 41-46. Before he went on that little tear (which abruptly ended once the playoffs started) he had 23 points in 40 games. So for most of the season I guess you could say he played like a 40-45 point player.

Also, in my opinion, its fairly easy to accumulate some secondary assists on goals you really had nothing to do with. I can't knock Richards for getting secondary assists but I wanted to throw that out there. What Im really trying to say is that he didn't create enough offense, or look like the scoring threat that many other 60 point players look like on a consistent basis.
 
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