Breakdown of Brad Richards Contract With Rangers

Gord Miller of TSN is reporting the year-by-year details of Brad Richards contract with the New York Rangers.

2011-12 season: $12 million ($10 million signing bonus, $2 million salary)
2012-13 season: $12 million ($8 million signing bonus, $4 million salary)
2013-14 salary: $9 million
2014-15 salary: $8.5 million
2015-16 salary: $8.5 million
2016-17 salary: $7 million
2017-18 salary: $1 million
2018-19 salary: $1 million
2019-20 salary: $1 million


Larry Brooks of the New York Post also passes along that the Richards will get a full no-movement clause for the entire length of the contract.  The full no-movement can be very restrictive for the club down the line as it was with Drury, but the fact that it was given is not unexpected given Richards desire to end his career wherever he signed this summer. 

Given the full no-movement clause the Rangers are likely hoping that the deal is as the numbers suggest essentially a 6-year, $57 million deal unless Richards really wants to play for $1 million those last three seasons.  If his skills do erode severely heading into the last three years and he doesnt want to retire there could be a Drury like buyout coming down the road, but for now the Rangers should be very happy that they got the deal they did.

Rangers Trade Brodie Dupont For Andreas Thuresson

In addition to this morning’s blockbuster deal with top free agent Brad Richards, the New York Rangers made a minor league trade.  New York sent 2005 third round pick Brodie Dupont to the Nashville Predators in exchange for 2007 fifth round pick Andreas Thuresson.

The fact that New York moved Dupont should not be a surprise to anyone as while he was a solid player in the AHL, the writing was on the wall in terms of him not getting a chance to make it was the Rangers at the NHL level.  This deal, much like the Byers deal, gives the prospect a chance to reach the NHL level while the Rangers get back a different prospect looking to make their name.

Dirk Hoag of On The Forecheck described Thuresson this way…

@mleetch352 he's a moderately physical winger, suited for 4th-line work. Pretty hard working and dependable, but unspectacular.

That sounds a lot like Brodie Dupont and says that the Rangers felt it was time to move on from Dupont and see if they can get more out of Thuresson down the line.  Last season Thuresson had 14 goals and 24 assists in 76 games for Milwaukee.

Brad Richards Chooses New York Rangers

According to Andy Strickland and confirmed by Darren Dreger Brad Richards has decided he wants to spend the rest of career with the New York Rangers.  The star of the 2011 class will bring his immense talents to Broadway in hopes of bringing the Stanley Cup to the Rangers.   The 31-year-old center brings the Rangers the first line center they have been lacking for years and will hopefully be able to spark a resurgence for Marian Gaborik and aid the Rangers mediocre power play.

Dreger reports the terms of the deal are a 9-years at $6.5 million per season.  The value per season is good for a player of his caliber and considering the market this summer, but the length of the contract is likely to come back and hurt the Rangers down the line.  The deal is likely to be heavily frontloaded in the first two seasons to caution against the next CBA as well.  With the deal being that frontloaded it is likely that the last 2-3 years of the contract are ones in which Richards will never see.  This is a gamble for the Rangers, but there is a clear statement they feel they are ready to compete for a championship and Richards is the piece they feel they need.

Update: According to Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet the deal will pay Richards $50 million in the first five seasons.

Update: Dreger corrects early numbers with slight change to 9 years, $60 million with a per cap charge of $6.67

Varying Reports Over Rangers Potential Offer For Richards

As we await the Brad Richards today there are conflicting reports floating around about what exactly the New York Rangers offered the center to come to Broadway.  Last night, after it was decided there would be no decision, Bob McKenzie of TSN reported that the Rangers were offering a heavily front-loaded deal for nine-years that could be worth $63 and $65 million


Larry Brooks of the New York Post counters that report this morning with one suggesting a shorter term if not less per season.

It is believed the Rangers originally offered a frontloaded deal of between 6-8 years representing an average of $6.5-7M per, the contract structure largely based on Buffalo's Christian Ehrhoff model, with huge money and signing bonuses pushed into the first 12 months to provide protection against a possible rollback or lockout.

The key to the differential in the two reports could simply be that Brooks had sources on the Rangers original offer and New York upped what they were willing to give in response to the other offers out there.  This would make sense because Brooks did say yesterday that the Rangers would be given the chance to match other offers in the end.

Both sets of numbers are frightening in terms of the long-term impact to the team, but obviously the six year end of the speculation is a lot better than the nine-year term would be.