Discussion of what the Rangers are and are not willing to do
in order to land Brad Richards is all over the place in the last couple
weeks. As free agency is set to open in
just a few hours, Larry Brooks of the New
York Post is reporting that the Rangers will avoid a bidding war for the
top free agent on the market.
If Richards is going to make his choice purely on dollars, then the Rangers are extremely unlikely to become involved in a bidding war, let alone win one.
If that's not enough, however, it is unimaginable that the Garden will throw more (and more and more) at No. 91 to entice him to play Broadway.
If it's truly going to take an eight- or nine-year front-loaded deal worth between $55-60 million to sign Richards -- Buffalo is believed preparing an offer even larger in scope -- and if Richards is going to need a match to become a Ranger, Sather will hold on to his cash for a later day and another option.
Brooks believes that the Rangers will
go as high as six-years at $7 million per season in their attempt to bring
Richards into the fold. It is hard for
me to believe that if the Rangers covet Richards that much that they will be
able to avoid the bidding war to win him.
Even at 6/42 the chase for Richards has become quite steep, but with the
way money and years are flying around right now you have to imagine that he
will get 8+ years on his new deal and the Rangers have to walk away from that
for the good of the organization. Losing out on Richards is better long term than buying in at the wrong price.
