The Athletic ranked their 15 worst signings of the last decade and the Rangers have a prominent one towards the top of the list. In off-ice news, the NHL has paused negotiations on their next TV contract until after the 2020 season is over. Re-run the Cup week continues on MSG Network.
Richards' signing rated as the third worst of the decade by The Athletic. The extract below from the whole column is what was written about Richards. New York's buyout, as I wrote at the time (https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=60664 and https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=60730) was dictated more by the updated CBA allowing for a compliance buyout with no cap hit rather than performance, But his performance had declined. Despite that, he played a role in the Rangers making it to the ECF in 2012 and SCF in 2014.
Buying out Richards enabled New York to sign Derick Brassard to a long-term deal. The Blueshirts dealt Brassard for Mika Zibanejad, a deal that looks like a flat out steal, so the net effect of the buyout was also positive. Because of this and what Richards gave New York in two of the three years he was on the team, despite his decline in the 2014 playoffs, makes the deal a positive in my book, especially due to the lack of retained cap space as part of the buyout.
When it comes to deciding the worst free-agent signings, the list of candidates is a long one.
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) June 16, 2020
Here are the 15 worst signings of the last decade. | @domluszczyszyn https://t.co/H6S3JDO9HR
In terms of things teams shouldn’t do, signing a 31-year-old to a nine-year contract is very high on that list. It’s just unlikely they last anywhere close to that long, even if they are as good as Brad Richards was in 2011.I remember the hype surrounding him vividly and at the time, his addition seemed like a major coup the Rangers. Given his prior two seasons in Dallas – where he was worth 2.7 and 2.9 wins in both years – it was hard to disagree with that notion. Even at 31, Richards still had it.
What was less clear at the time though was how players aged. The adage was that players peaked in their late 20’s and “age curves… were still a few years away from being mainstream ideas. That data wasn’t readily available for teams, but it is now and as you can see above, the math didn’t add up. Most would’ve guessed that Richards would be worth the money for at least half the contract or more as a star center coming off two excellent seasons, but in actuality, his value looked likely to decline below expected, starting as early as Year 3. The Rangers paid for 19 wins, but something closer to 15 looked more likely. The difference equates to roughly a $1.4 million overpay per season on his nine-year deal.
That price change alters perception and maybe Richards lasts a little longer as a Ranger. In total, he lasted three years before being bought out having failed to live up to his price-tag. He was being paid too much to be a 50- to 65-point center.
His decline only continued from there and two years later he was out of the league entirely, four years before his original deal was set to expire and earning way fewer wins than he was paid for and what he was projected to as well.
NHL taking a timeout on negotiating next TV deals. Below is a cut of the column from Barrett Sports Media, taking the info from Sports Business Daily, who reported it Monday. The pause comes as no surprise. The column does a nice job as to spelling out the reasons and the benefits of a pause. My two cents to be added that wasn't listed is the overall potential for increased viewership due to the pandemic.
Since we don't know how quickly fans will be able to return to watching live action broadly and if 18,000 seat arenas will be able to be full again, viewing games on TV, computers, tablets and phones may spike. With that comes the possibility of a larger TV contract, especially if several sources are vying for your product. Even if the NHL gets the "leftovers" from the NFL deal, the league should be looking at a healthy spike from the current contract, which would positively impact Hockey Related Revenue resulting in a rise in the cap and associated impact on escrow.
The NHL is taking a timeout from TV contract negotiations. https://t.co/XnbcghAoek
— Jason Barrett (@sportsradiopd) June 16, 2020
The NHL will not continue negotiating a new television contract until the end of 2020 according to a report from Sports Business Journal. The league’s current deal with NBC is set to expire after the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals.Just how valuable the NHL is as a television property will have a lot to do with the NFL. The league has re-upped with Amazon for digital rights, but the NFL’s linear TV partners (CBS, ESPN, FOX, and NBC) are all still waiting and all are willing to spend money to stay in the professional football business.
In addition to NBC, both ESPN and FOX have expressed interest in the NHL’s TV rights. How much any of those three networks would be willing to spend is largely going to depend on how much they are forced to spend to keep the NFL
Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing says there may be more competition. He suggests that CBS could be a contender after losing the TV rights to the SEC’s top football game every Saturday...The NHL likely wouldn’t be too thrilled with games on CBS Sports Network or CBS All-Access, but weekend games in the winter on CBS’s broadcast network would be an interesting outcome.…
John Ourand and Terry Lefton of SBJ report that the NHL would like to be in business with two networks. It is the only one of America’s four major sports leagues that does not currently have a split national TV package.
Cash is very much at the center of the NHL’s decision, but there are multiple reasons. First, the league is going to let the NFL set the market for live sports. If a network pays less than expected for the NFL, the NHL could be the beneficiary. The NHL is also likely also hoping networks have more money to spend by the end of the year than they have right now after being hit hard by the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Re-run the Cup schedule for the week of June 15-21 on MSG. In case you haven't had enough watching of legacy games, especially from 1994, you have come to the right place. MSG Network is re-running several games from that Cup run, capped with running every win from each round and airing the parade on Saturday and Sunday.
BROADCAST SCHEDULEMonday, June 15 9:00a/7:30p - Islanders @ Rangers - 4/18/94 Mike Richter with the shutout as the Rangers take Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
11:00a/9:30p - Rangers @ Islanders - 4/21/94 Adam Graves with 2 goals leads the Rangers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
Tuesday, June 16 9:00a/7:30p - Capitals @ Rangers - 5/3/94 Graves and Matteau with 3rd period goals as the Rangers take Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals
11:00a/9:30p - Capitals @ Rangers - 5/9/94 Adam Graves leads the Rangers with 2 goals as they eliminate the Capitals in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
Wednesday, June 17 9:00a/7:30p - Rangers @ Devils - 5/25/94 "The Guarantee Game" - Mark Messier delivers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals
11:00a/9:30p - Devils @ Rangers - 5/27/94 Stephan Matteau sends the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Finals with the goal in double OT in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals
Thursday, June 18 9:00a/7:30p - Canucks @ Rangers - 6/2/94 The Rangers even up the series as they take Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals
11:00a/9:30p - Rangers @ Canucks - 6/7/94 Mike Richter stops Pavel Bure on a penalty shot as the Rangers take Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals
Friday, June 19 4:00p/7:30p - Canucks @ Rangers - 6/14/94 After 54 years, the Rangers hoist the Stanley Cup as they take Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals
6:00p/9:30p - '94 Rangers Stanley Cup Parade
Saturday, June 20 | March to The Cup 8:00a - Islanders @ Rangers - 4/17/94 The Rangers take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
10:00a - Islanders @ Rangers - 4/18/94 The Rangers take Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
12:00p - Rangers @ Islanders - 4/21/94 The Rangers take Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
2:00p - Rangers @ Islanders - 4/24/94 The Rangers eliminate the Isles in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
4:00p - Capitals @ Rangers - 5/1/94 The Rangers take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals
6:00p - Capitals @ Rangers - 5/3/94 The Rangers take Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals
8:00p - Rangers @ Capitals - 5/5/94 The Rangers take Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals
10:00p - Capitals @ Rangers - 5/9/94 The Rangers march to the Cup continues as they eliminate the Caps in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals
12:00a - Devils @ Rangers - 5/17/94 The Rangers take Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals
2:00a - Devils @ Rangers - 5/19/94 The Rangers take Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals
Sunday, June 21 | March to The Cup 10:00a - Rangers @ Devils - 5/25/94 The Rangers take Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals
12:00p - Devils @ Rangers - 5/27/94 The march to the Cup continues as Matteau and the Rangers eliminate the Devils in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals
2:00p - Canucks @ Rangers - 6/2/94 The Rangers take Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals
4:00p - Rangers @ Canucks - 6/4/94 The Rangers take Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals
6:00p - Rangers @ Canucks - 6/7/94 The Rangers take Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals
8:00p - Canucks @ Rangers - 6/14/94 The Rangers march to the Cup is complete as they take Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals
10:00p - '94 Rangers Stanley Cup Parade