The Pittsburgh Penguins are intending to save money on the salary cap by finally using their youth at the defense position. The plan is to use those savings to improve the forward depth on the team.
Today I am going to focus on a player that I think is a very intriguing potential option and one that I think would fit in nicely with the Penguins.
That player is Brad Richards.
There are some variables at play that are unknown right now. Is he going to return to Chicago? What kind of contract will he be looking for? Would he be OK playing behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin? These are all valid questions.
I tried to answer question one by asking one of the most respected Chicago Blackhawks writers in Jennifer Lute Costella .
@GunnerStaal Don't really know. I've seen people asking if he'd take a discount to stay and others saying he's probably not coming back.
— Jen LC (@RegressedPDO) June 17, 2015
So at the very least some people have been led to believe he will hit the market. Only time will tell if he will. For the sake of this blog I am going to assume he is going to hit the market.
Why Brad Richards? Because he is still a good hockey player and Pittsburgh needs better hockey players on their team.
Brad Richards is 35 years old and that isn’t an issue because AGE DOESN’T MATTER. The only time age matters is when the term on the contract outlives the player’s usefulness. If you sign a short term deal with an older player and he plays well there is no problem? It isn’t like the Penguins are busting at the seams with capable young forwards in their system.
I would try and entice Brad Richards with a one year deal worth 4.0 million or a two year deal worth 6.0 million. The idea of signing Richards is not to be the long term solution it is to bridge the gap until one can be found. Just because Brad Richards took a big buyout from the Rangers doesn’t mean he is going to offer full discounts, especially since he just won a Stanley Cup while playing in a contributing role.
Here are Brad Richards numbers for the past three years
Brad Richards is not a “shutdown… center. His shot suppression isn’t good. It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to build your team through the archaic idea that the third line center has to be a defense first player. Signing Richards as a 3C (if he is open to the idea) is a way to get three productive scoring lines.
For example:
Perron-Crosby-Hornqvist Dupuis-Malkin-??????? Kunitz-Richards-Bennett
Pittsburgh does have some work to do to find Geno a worthy top six winger option but that template has options. You can interchange any of Kunitz, Dupuis, or Bennett into a top six role and each player is also able to play in what would be a third line scoring role as well.
I believe a change to a lesser role would also help out Richards. For years he has either been a #1 or #2 center on his team.
This indicates he hasn’t really done a great job with that added responsibility. By lessening the burden on Richards in a 3C role I would wager that his dCorsi would start to dramatically improve. Pittsburgh has a setup where he could flourish against weaker matchups.
Even though he hasn't done a great job in the top six lately he would be an alright option to play that role in a pinch if Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin were to miss time. Or at least more qualified than a lot of the other options.
For some people the idea of three scoring lines will never appeal to them. They will continue to believe that you need to have a defensive third line center. The fact is there are many ways to build a team and the best one is where you acquire as many good players as possible. You then mold your tactics around the players’ strengths.
Brad Richards may not be open to the idea of being third fiddle behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but Pittsburgh should definitely find out if he is.
Thanks for reading!
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