Following a crippling double-overtime Game 5 loss and watching the Los Angeles Kings celebrate around the ice at Staples Center with the Stanley Cup on Friday, the New York Rangers now have a lot of offseason issues to tend to, including the fate of center Brad Richards.
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The Blueshirts and general manager Glen Sather are widely expected to use their second and final compliance buyout on the former Stanley Cup Champion this spring, but head coach Alain Vigneault said that the decision hasn't been made yet just three days following a heart-wrenching elimination.
Vigneault told reporters Monday as the Rangers cleared out their lockers that organizational meetings have still yet to happen so the 34-year-old's fate remains unclear. Richards still has six years and remaining on the nine-year $60 million deal he signed with New York in 2011, which holds an annual cap hit of $6.67 million.
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Richards will be 40 by the time the deal expires and under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Rangers could suffer severe cap penalties if Richards chose to retire before the deal runs out. With 11 players becoming free agents this summer, New York could use the buyout to open up funds to bring back some of the core players that helped lead it to an improbable run to the Cup Final this spring.
Richards had a strong regular season for the Rangers, finishing second on the team in goals (20) and third in assists (31) and points (51), but his postseason was hit-and-miss as he went 5-7--12 but only had one assist in five Stanley Cup Final games, eventually getting demoted to the fourth line in the last two contests.
"I think if you look at Brad's overall season, he had a really good year," Vigneault told reporters on Monday. "In the final series, I don't know if it was a combination of some other guys [who] might have been playing a little better than he was, but we had some decisions to make in Game 4 and Game 5, but his overall play five-on-five and on the power play during the year was very good."
He added: "I'm very happy with what he brought to the table, veteran player that from Day 1 was a real good extension of the coaching staff in that dressing room. So, I mean I think he should walk away from this season very pleased with how he played, and how he contributed to our team. And as everybody knows, there's decisions to be made, and we haven't made those yet. But I'm a big fan of Brad Richards. I've said it from Day 1 since I was hired here."
Richards became a strong leader in the Rangers' locker room which is a presence that could be missed next season. Richards became the team's de facto captain after Ryan Callahan was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in March in exchange for Richards' friend and former teammate Martin St. Louis, who Richards lifted the Cup with in 2004.
While no decision has been made yet for the Rangers, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that Richards will be bought out by June 30 and hit the open market when free agency opens on July 1.
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