The Richards Suitors

Free Agent Frenzy is almost upon us and Brad Richards is the biggest prize. The Rangers have been interested in acquiring Richards for nearly a year at this point and tomorrow they will have to opportunity to land him without giving up any assets.

But it's no guarantee Brad will be wearing Ranger Blue come October; Richard's agent expects to receive offers from up to 20 teams, although many of them will not meet many of Richards' demands. The team that Brad will end up on will be in a strong hockey market with a chance to go deep in the playoffs; Brad wants to win. He also believes this will be his final contract, therefore he wants to cash in and have the deal take him up until the day he retires.

Clearly not every team can provide Brad with his wishes, therefore there are a limited amount of players who will do their best to entice Brad tomorrow. Many believe these "players" include the Rangers, Leafs, Red Wings, Sabres and Lightning. Some of them seem to have exactly what Brad wants, others may have more of a certain wish of Brad's rather than all of them. Obviously this is a Rangers blog and we like to believe that we, with the help of Richards, can contend for the cup in a few years. That's yet to be seen, but what the Rangers do have going for them is this is a (fairly) strong hockey market and we have a young and up-and-coming team (another of Brad's desires). The problem is, Toronto and Buffalo share this in common, and they both will have more cap space than the Rangers. Toronto's young players may be a bit more far off than the Rangers' , but it's still something to consider.

Many insiders say that Brad's heart is still in Tampa, but will they have enough money to resign Stamkos this year, Hedman next year plus add Richards? And will the owners be willing to flip the bill to push the Bolts up to the max-salary tier the Rangers and Toronto are in? It's all yet to be seen, but I believe the bridges have been burned with Richards and Tampa and financially they cannot support his contract. Then there's Detroit. After the retirement of Rafalski the Wings have a little bit of money to play with. Obviously they will be contenders for the Cup, but it seems as if they would rather use that extra money to find a replacement for Rafalski than sign another center. Also from Richards' point of view, it's somewhat up in the air what this team might look like in the future with Lidstrom and Datsyuk getting older, that could be a turn off for him.

Richards will milk every team he can to get what he wants and I do not think he signs anywhere tomorrow, but if he does, you can bet he will get what he wants. The teams I've discussed all appear to be loading up for tomorrow and all of them will be strong suitors. It will come down to what Brad feels is the best overall situation for him, his career and his family. Despite what Larry Brooks of the New York Post said the other day, that Brad is telling those around him that he will be a Ranger come Friday, many others (including myself) believe the Rangers will be in a dogfight over #91.