Jared Crozier: Mike Richards Worth A Gamble?; Thoughts On Lazar & His Role

Mike Richards = Craziest thing you have ever suggested. The Sens have had issues with questionable behaviour and activities in the dressing room in the past and they certainly don't need this guy and his baggage.

I would rather give up Lazar and Weircioch for Duchesne than sign a guy like Richards.
Even if the asking price was higher than that, it would still make more sense.

Wasn't Richards benched during the playoffs?

I think Richards would be a good fit. He's a winner, that's for sure. I didn't like when the sens had all those substance abuse rumors swirling around them in the Redden/Emery years, and I would hate for something like that to creep back in the room. That being said, I doubt Richards would be brought in without it being made crystal clear that there is a zero-tolerance policy with regards to that.

I don't know how I feel about Lazar though...It's hard to say that he'll really develop that touch in the AHL on the top line. He's a definite NHLer, one who's helping this team ATM. If we had someone to replace him maybe, but who would be that player?

Having Richards come in is a reasonable idea but it sends the message to the team that management thinks they're so bad they are willing to hire a player who most teams felt was washed up, out of shape, and troubled. That said, with Cowen out, we do need a new whipping boy.

As for Lazar, I agree. The way he is going he will be a third liner for a few years. He needs to develop a scoring touch at the professional level. I'm not sure if it's a confidence thing since he has more confidence than Jean-Claude Van Damme in tights regardless of the problems that persist. Playing in the AHL may give him a bit more time and space to perfect his offensive instincts.

Mike Richards = Craziest thing you have ever suggested. The Sens have had issues with questionable behaviour and activities in the dressing room in the past and they certainly don't need this guy and his baggage.

I would rather give up Lazar and Weircioch for Duchesne than sign a guy like Richards.
Even if the asking price was higher than that, it would still make more sense.

Wasn't Richards benched during the playoffs?
- jaz258

That is certainly the risk, but I think it would be worth it. People learn from their mistakes and his on-ice leadership or effort has never been questioned. Kings missed the playoffs last year. He had a bad year, but also had a $5.57M cap hit. At $1M if it works great, if not, no commitment or tie going forward.

Risk/reward makes me think it is an option rather than blowing up the future for a piece now.

And you aren't getting Duchene (if he is really "available") for Lazar and Wiercioch, not even close to enough.

I have a buddy who keeps talking about Mike Richards.. has for the last 5 years actually.

The thing most people don't seem to realize is the guy is slow.. I mean painfully, brutally slow. I mean Jonathan Cheechoo post sports hernia, slow.

Richards won't be able to keep up with NHL pace. He always seemed to do better in the playoffs because after round 1, the game slows down a bit as players get more hurt and tired and the refs let more interference go.

Thing is, the Sens will be in a battle just to get to the playoffs. He is a waste of a roster spot.

If the Sens are firmly in a playoff spot in mid-march and Richards is still available, then maybe take a look at bringing in him.... maybe..

That is certainly the risk, but I think it would be worth it. People learn from their mistakes and his on-ice leadership or effort has never been questioned. Kings missed the playoffs last year. He had a bad year, but also had a $5.57M cap hit. At $1M if it works great, if not, no commitment or tie going forward.

Risk/reward makes me think it is an option rather than blowing up the future for a piece now.

And you aren't getting Duchene (if he is really "available") for Lazar and Wiercioch, not even close to enough.
- JaredCrozier

The problem is that Richards has never learned from his mistakes. He had issues that got him traded out of Philly, and they continued in L.A. I don't want Ottawa to have that kind of problem child in the line-up.

i say give the guy a shot. it wasnt his play but his cap hit that made him untradeable

I think the sens need to look at their depth on forward more than adding a top 6 guy right now. The top two lines seem to be fine. Sure, the top line is on a bit of a dry spell, and a 2nd line LW hasn't really materialized, but if the Sens can get a consistent guy to build some chemistry there, and so stop swapping people in and out of the bottom 6, I think the forwards will be okay. I think that is the biggest reason the bottom 6 have struggled to produce. Too much shuffling.

If ( if if if ) a move is to be made, I think it should be on a top 4 LD to play with Ceci. Not yet ready to give up on Wierchioch, but maybe moving him down to bottom pairing with Wideman would be a thought. Though, that does kinda mess with the balance of offensive d with defensive d, because I don't think Wideman should be taken out at this point. He deserves to be there more than 3 other guys who have been playing.

Pass on Richards. He may be passed his "possession" days, but players never recover from that. It seems all players who had a problem with that stuff, come back clean, but a tremendously lesser player. Not worth the circus. If you can get him to try out in the AHL first (similar to Bertuzzi), then maybe take a chance.

Lazar should be in the AHL. They guy can't handle, shoot, or pass the puck cleanly. He has tremendous hockey IQ, but that won't mean anything if he's putting up 10 points a year. I have a feeling he is just not possessed with great skill. You'd see it once in awhile if he was. He didn't even looked that skilled in the World Juniors. He just played with McDavid.

I also think Ceci might be better served to go to the AHL. He's playing fine in my mind, but playing with such terrible partners against good talent can't be fantastic for development. A stint in the AHL might get his confidence back up. He does have offensive instincts and seems to want to use them, but seems to get burned a lot. Tuning that in the AHL might be in the teams best interest.

eggs

That is certainly the risk, but I think it would be worth it. People learn from their mistakes and his on-ice leadership or effort has never been questioned. Kings missed the playoffs last year. He had a bad year, but also had a $5.57M cap hit. At $1M if it works great, if not, no commitment or tie going forward.

Risk/reward makes me think it is an option rather than blowing up the future for a piece now.

And you aren't getting Duchene (if he is really "available") for Lazar and Wiercioch, not even close to enough.
- JaredCrozier

Only was Duchene is traded to ottawa is for ceci lazar and a 2nd.

I also think Ceci might be better served to go to the AHL. He's playing fine in my mind, but playing with such terrible partners against good talent can't be fantastic for development. A stint in the AHL might get his confidence back up. He does have offensive instincts and seems to want to use them, but seems to get burned a lot. Tuning that in the AHL might be in the teams best interest.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

I think Ceci has been fine. Incredible actually, because the strength of his line pairing isn't up to his play. I see no reason to send him down. I've seen several things improve in his game this year over last. Last year, he had a tendency to let guys get behind him, meaning he would end up chasing them and often leading to 2 on 1 opportunities, or breakaways. That doesn't seem to happen anymore. He's also much smarter about when to pinch and how to hold the line, but not over commit.

He's ended up hemmed in his own end, but a lot of that happens because of giveaways. Ceci has a total of SIX giveaways for the entire year so far. Wiercioch is at 17. That's a -14 takeaway to giveaway result. Wiercioch has more giveaways than Karlsson who happens to have the most takeaways, and the most ice time. Cowen is -11 with 13 giveaways, and Borowiecki has 6. I'd say Ceci is carrying that 2nd pairing right now. I'm also impressed with how well Borowiecki has played on his off side, and I'd prefer him to Cowen on the bottom pairing with Wideman for the time being.

i say give the guy a shot. it wasnt his play but his cap hit that made him untradeable
- masterhans

well, it was his play that made his minutes drop to around Nolan's averages and duty on the 4th line. It was also his play that had him sent down. It was also his play that made him healthy scratched as the Kings tried to claw back into the race last season. So while it may have been his contract that made him untradeable, it was his play that made him unplayable.

Jared Crozier: Mike Richards Worth A Gamble?; Thoughts On Lazar & His Role
- JaredCrozier

why does wiercioch hold so much value in your trade proposals? This is the same guy who was almost dealt at last years deadline for Stefan Elliott and a 3rd when he was playing good. Now hes a healthy scratch and playing like junk...yet hes tossed around like hes an attractive piece?

dont quite understand the logic on this one

why does wiercioch hold so much value in your trade proposals? This is the same guy who was almost dealt at last years deadline for Stefan Elliott and a 3rd when he was playing good. Now hes a healthy scratch and playing like junk...yet hes tossed around like hes an attractive piece?

dont quite understand the logic on this one
- DDM-Coga

who are you asking?

who are you asking?
- JaredCrozier

just in general, this fan base on HB seems to have such a skewed value of him.
Hes a bottom pairing dman. Just confused of where all his value comes from

If you are referencing the post by Jaz, I'm thinking he was just pointing out that he'd rather give up some lower level roster players for a better player than just signing Richards and hoping he is good, or giving him a chance to see.

just in general, this fan base on HB seems to have such a skewed value of him.
Hes a bottom pairing dman. Just confused of where all his value comes from
- DDM-Coga

"This fanbase"?

You mean a few people in particular who either
1. don't know hockey
or
2. hope for completely unrealistic trades and assume the other GM is an idiot.

Weircioch is not an asset. At 2M, he is a salary dump.

I see no harm in giving Mike Richards a try out in Binghamton to prove himself. No shortage of dumb posts in here today, hello Joe Sackic im gonna give you Lazar and Weirococh for Duchene please put him on a plane to Ottawa. At this point in time we don't need to make any panic trades we need to work on some things in practice and get the guys working harder on the fore check. Clarke is working out at the rink again but probably still a couple months away from taking to the ice. Sens should be able to get a good amount of points the rest of november. The boys should be able to really light it up tomorrow against the blue jackets haha

I'm all for thinking outside of the box, I'm just not convinced Richards is the guy for us. If he was on top of his game and these problems took him out, i'd be inclined to give it a go. However, his game has been in slow decline and he just seemed pretty useless by the end of it.

Who knows though, if BM met with him, saw what his lifestyle/training regimen was, maybe we would be inclined to try a no-risk low-value contract.

With Lazar, I totally agree that he should be spending a bit of time in the AHL. We have other guys who can fill his spot, as we need him to develop properly. He seems like the classic case of a guy who does his job well so hangs in wherever he is used. This is a great quality, but it's preventing the team from making the smart decision to send him down. A year in the AHL and he won't just be "hanging in", he'll be much more apt to lead with his play.

[quote=Charliebox]Way late on responding to this.... and.... I shouldn't have to explain this.... but....

There are only 4 divisions.

If we are 2nd in our division and 12th overall, our division obviously sucks..... :d

This was Charliebox yesterday ^ with the above quote

There are eight teams in the Atlantic big guy, Buffalo and Toronto yes they aren't very good, as for Boston, Montreal, Florida, Tampa Bay and Detroit if you think those hockey teams suck then you are a a complete tool. Get off the drugs.
I had to bring this late reply over from yesterdays blog. According to Charliebox the Atlantic division sucks. I beg to differ and see it as a very highly skilled,competetive and tight division. This isn't beer league last time I looked it was the NHL.

[quote=Charliebox]Way late on responding to this.... and.... I shouldn't have to explain this.... but....

There are only 4 divisions.

If we are 2nd in our division and 12th overall, our division obviously sucks..... :d

This was Charliebox yesterday ^ with the above quote

There are eight teams in the Atlantic big guy, Buffalo and Toronto yes they aren't very good, as for Boston, Montreal, Florida, Tampa Bay and Detroit if you think those hockey teams suck then you are a a complete tool. Get off the drugs.
I had to bring this late reply over from yesterdays blog. According to Charliebox the Atlantic division sucks. I beg to differ and see it as a very highly skilled,competetive and tight division. This isn't beer league last time I looked it was the NHL.
- JS_19

The Atlantic sucks.

You have 1 elite team - Montreal
A bunch of mediocre teams - Ottawa, Detroit, Boston, Florida, Tampa (elite last year, playing mediocre this year)
Two garbage teams - Toronto, Buffalo.

Let's see, Ottawa would be in:
6th in the Metro
6th in the Central
2nd in the pacific.

Clearly, to this point in the season, there are two great divisions and two crappy divisions.

Not sure what you aren't understanding here.

The Atlantic sucks.

You have 1 elite team - Montreal
A bunch of mediocre teams - Ottawa, Detroit, Boston, Florida, Tampa (elite last year, playing mediocre this year)
Two garbage teams - Toronto, Buffalo.

Let's see, Ottawa would be in:
6th in the Metro
6th in the Central
2nd in the pacific.

Clearly, to this point in the season, there are two great divisions and two crappy divisions.

Not sure what you aren't understanding here.
- Charliebox

I agree, it really does suck. This post is right on the money one good team and a bunch of mediocre ones to go with the Buffalo and the Leafs

The Atlantic sucks.

You have 1 elite team - Montreal
A bunch of mediocre teams - Ottawa, Detroit, Boston, Florida, Tampa (elite last year, playing mediocre this year)
Two garbage teams - Toronto, Buffalo.

Let's see, Ottawa would be in:
6th in the Metro
6th in the Central
2nd in the pacific.

Clearly, to this point in the season, there are two great divisions and two crappy divisions.

Not sure what you aren't understanding here.
- Charliebox

and once again you are wrong, if they are in a different division they have a different schedule and the outcome could be totally different for every team in that division at the moment. not sure do you even watch hockey? have you every played ? Its goofs like you that nobody wants to sit beside at a hockey game because instead of cheering you only talk when one of your players makes a mistake, its goofs like you that players request trades to the media because they don't wanna be in the same city as people like you.