The Eastern Conference Champion New York Rangers have made their first big move of the offseason by buying out the last six years of Brad Richards contract. Richards had a nine-year, $60 million deal, and its $6.67 million annual cap hit will be paid to him over the next 12 years.
Chris Peters on CBS Sports believes this move is necessary if the Rangers are going to build off this past season. The money freed up from buying out Richards will be used to keep other players in New York.
“Richards will be owed $12.6 million over the next 12 years, but will also receive an additional $8 million over the next three seasons as signing bonuses can't be bought out according to Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet. That's a lot of money to be paid for playing for someone else.
The deal was always risky with the contract taking Richards into his age 40 season, but he was the top free agent on the market in 2011 and had the Rangers won the Stanley Cup this year, the deal might have widely been considered a success. Unfortunately it didn't pan out and as hard as it probably was for Glen Sather to do it, he made the right call in buying out Richards.”
The first line of business for the Rangers will most likely be rewarding extensions to the likes of Henrik Lundqvist and Dan Girardi for their effort this postseason. Richards we be an unrestricted free agent come July 1 and the 34-year-old is expected to generate some interest around the league.
Richards is coming off a 20-goal, 51-point campaign and already has a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe to his name. Don’t weep for Richards as he will continue to play hockey as he receives a nice check from the Rangers for the next 12 years. New York has found it’s next Bobby Bonilla, but luckily it is 'only' for 12 years.
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