Fan In Van

The Brad Richards Question

More news is surfacing that Brad Richards has given the Tampa Bay Lightning a list of teams he’d be willing to go to. In addition, it’s being reported that the Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Vancouver Canucks are among the leading candidates to land the big-name centre.

I’ve said it before, and I’m maintaining my opinion on the issue: At his cost, I would not want Brad Richards to be a Vancouver. He’s a talented individual who’s accomplished so much in his career already, but in this business where we are governed by an NHL salary cap, to have a goaltender who makes $6.5M and a forward who makes $7.8M makes no sense financially for a club that wants to contend for the Cup.

I like Brad Richards a lot. And as I said, he is one of the few I would give an arm and a leg for. But for him to come here, it would not only cost a pretty penny, it would cost this team a lot of cap space that we had previously dedicated to landing two top six forwards for next season.

But, let’s say, just for fun, that the Vancouver Canucks, Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets put together an offer for Tampa Bay’s star centre. Tampa Bay is currently in need of a goaltender who can win games now, a top four defenceman or forward prospects. So, without further ado… my own proposed offers from all three NHL teams for Brad Richards:

To DAL: C Brad Richards

To TB: G Mike Smith, D Matt Niskanen, 2nd round pick in 2008. Tampa Bay gets a goaltender who has anchored Marty Turco for too long and a defenceman who can contribute both offensively and be rock steady on the blueline.

To CBJ: C Brad Richards

To TB: G Fredrik Norrena, C Dan Fritsche, D Rostislav Klesla. TB gets Norrena back (Who never suited up for them), a promising centre in Dan Fritsche and a 25-year old Klesla who only now is entering top-four D status. Columbus doesn’t give up the farm for Richards, as there is plenty of prospects still in the pipeline.

To VAN:  C Brad Richards

To CLB: D Luc Bourdon, C Patrick White, G Corey Schneider. Tampa Bay gets two tremendous players and a prospect with some upside. However, a trade like this would indicate TB is looking more like a rebuilder in the next few seasons as opposed to a playoff contender.