Brad Richards was the primary target for the Rangers in free agency two years ago. The center may be targeted by the organization this summer for an altogether different reason.

“I signed for longer than a year-and-a-half,” Richards said when he met with reporters at the Rangers’ training facility yesterday for the final time in the 2013 season. “But I do understand what’s going on.”

Richards could be a candidate for an amnesty buyout this summer due to his play in the truncated 2013 season, the remaining term on his contract and the new collective bargaining agreement’s salary cap benefit recapture system.

The 33-year-old was a healthy scratch for Games 4 and 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Bruins. He finished the playoffs with one goal and a minus-3 rating in 10 playoff games, and had been dropped to a fourth line with Chris Kreider and Arron Asham midway through the Washington series.

“As I said when I took him out of the lineup, I was not coaching the proper way, playing him on the fourth line,” head coach John Tortorella said. “It just doesn’t work. But I also could not put him in front of other people because [at the time] other people were playing better.”

Richards’s lack of offensive production mirrored that of his team in the playoffs. The Rangers scored only 26 goals in 12 playoff games this spring. By comparison, Eastern Conference finalists Pittsburgh and Boston have scored 47 goals and 38 goals, respectively, in the first two rounds.

“[We] didn’t create enough offense [in the playoffs],” captain Ryan Callahan said. “We didn’t do that enough.”

Even with the addition of Rick Nash, the Rangers finished the regular season with 126 goals in 48 games, an average of 2.62 goals per game. In 46 regular season games, Richards totaled 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points, and a plus-8 rating.

“It just wasn’t a good season,” Richards said.

And it may prove costly.

The new CBA has a clause which asserts a team will be on the hook for the remainder of a player’s contract, even if the player retires early. It is a mechanism to counteract the so-called back-diving contracts borne out of the CBA following the 2004-05 lockout. Those contracts paid players the majority of their salaries in the first few years.

Signed to a nine-year, $60 million free agent deal in July 2011, Richards has seven years and $36 million left on his deal, and is a $6.67 million cap hit through the 2019-20 season. He is scheduled to make $9 million next season.

The Rangers have $13.5 million in available cap room right now. By amnestying Richards, the Rangers would have $20.1 million in cap room, which would allow the organization to sign restricted free agents Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin and Mats Zuccarello to deals this summer, while freeing up money for unrestricted free agents Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi next year.

“I signed here to be a Ranger for a lot longer than a year-and-a-half,” Richards said. “So I hope to do that.”

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

The post Richards big question mark on Rangers break-up day appeared first on Metro.us.

Brad Richards will not play in Game 4 and he may never again play as a member of the Rangers.

Richards told reporters following the Rangers’ optional skate at the Garden Thursday morning that he was scratched for the win-or-go-home game.

“I’m just disappointed,” Richards said. “[I will] work harder and try my best to never let it happen again.”

Signed to a nine-year, $60 million free agent deal on July 2, 2011, Richards has not been the dynamic, top-line center the organization has long lusted after. In two years with the Rangers, Richards totaled 100 points (36 goals and 64 assists) in 128 games, and he finished the truncated 2013 season with 34 points (11 goals and 23 assists) in 46 games.

Following the trade deadline acquisition of Derick Brassard in April, Richards was ostensibly dropped to the third line. During the Capitals series, Richards was dropped to the fourth line with Arron Asham and Chris Kreider.

Richards recorded 147:10 of ice time, an average of 14:43 per game. In the first three games of the series against the Bruins, Richards had only been on the ice for 31:41.

“Yes,” Richards said, when asked if it was difficult to contribute offensively with the limited minutes. He has one goal and a minus-3 rating in 10 playoff games this spring.

Head coach John Tortorella, whom Richards won a Cup with in 2004 with the Lightning, has routinely said it is a mistake to judge the center solely by his stats. During the 2011-12 season, Tortorella pointed to Richards’s mentoring of the Rangers’ young players, most notably Michael Del Zotto, off the ice.

However, on the ice, Richards never quite meshed with Marian Gaborik in 2011-12 or Rick Nash this year. His lack of production coupled with his contract and the organization’s salary cap status has led to rumors the Rangers may amnesty his contract this summer as per the new collective bargaining agreement.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly confirmed in an email to Metro New York that the Rangers have one more amnesty buyout available to them to use either this summer or next. The Rangers amnestied Wade Redden following the end of the lockout, and he subsequently signed a one-year deal with St. Louis. The Blues traded Redden to Boston at the trade deadline.

Should the Rangers amnesty Richards, the Rangers would have $20.2 million in salary cap room this summer, with Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh, Carl Hagelin and Mats Zuccarello all in line for restricted free agent contracts, while Ryane Clowe is an unrestricted free agent. Next summer, Ryan Callahan, Dan Girardi and Henrik Lundqvist are all unrestricted free agents.

Injury updates …

» Clowe, Darroll Powe and Marc Staal all participated in the optional skate Thursday morning. Staal characterized himself as “status quo.” Roman Hamrlik replaced Anton Stralman in the lineup. Stralman left Game 3 after 12:25 of ice time spanning the first two periods following a thunderous check from Boston left wing Milan Lucic.

Game 4 will be Hamrlik’s first game action since the 4-2 win over Winnipeg on April 1.

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

The post Rangers Notebook: Brad Richards healthy scratch for Game 4 appeared first on Metro.us.

There are signs that spring is upon us. The days are longer, the weather is warmer and the Rangers and Capitals meet in a playoff series.

For the third time in the three years — and the fourth time in five years — the Rangers and Capitals will face off in the playoffs. The Eastern Conference quarterfinal series begins Thursday night at the Verizon Center in Washington.

“We wanted to keep on playing,” head coach John Tortorella said after the Rangers ended the regular season with a 4-0 win over the Devils Saturday afternoon at the Garden.

A preseason favorite to win the Stanley Cup, the Rangers spent much of the first 10 weeks of the season alternating wins and losses before authoring a strong April, in which they went 10-3-1 and led the NHL with a 3.6 goals per game average.

“We are where we need to be,” Dan Girardi said Saturday. “April was a good month for us. We played our style of hockey and won in different fashions.”

The strong April coincides with the trade-deadline acquisitions of Ryane Clowe in a trade with San Jose, Derick Brassard, John Moore and Derek Dorsett in a trade with Columbus and the free-agent signing of Mats Zuccarello.

“I’m really happy with the past month, five weeks,” Tortorella said. “I really like the team. I think we stabilized ourselves when we got a little bit of the middle of the lineup straightened away.”

It has also had the effect of jump-starting a slumping Brad Richards. Richards, who finished the season with 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points in 45 games, scored 16 points (six goals and 10 assists) in April.

“It’s been a work in progress,” Richards said Saturday. “It’s a good time to start feeling good.

“If it’s an 82-game schedule I probably don’t let some of the stuff get to me like I did. In the position I was in, it is tough to see your team battling in the seventh, eighth, ninth spot if you aren’t producing. I might have forced it a bit because of the short season. I got out of my game and my mind got in the way a little bit. Finally, something broke through. I started contributing and it just feels better.”

Tortorella created a line of Richards, Zuccarello and Rick Nash in the 4-3 overtime win over the Carolina on April 25, and the trio has fit together. Richards scored the game-tying goal against Carolina, and the line combined for two goals, three assists, five points and a plus-6 rating against the Devils.

“He has certainly found his game,” Tortorella said of Richards on Saturday. “Some of the goals he scored — it doesn’t matter with those type of goals — one was off a skate, one was off the backboard, it does not matter. It relaxes them a little bit.

“I thought that line, [when] we put it together the last game, I thought it ignited [Nash] in our last game. When he was with [Brassard] and Clowe — before Clowe go hurt — it just wasn’t working. Hopefully it will continue.”

Washington won two of the past three series, but the Rangers beat the Capitals in seven games last May to advance to the Eastern Conference final. Last year’s Eastern Conference semifinal is memorable for Marian Gaborik’s triple overtime game-winner in Game 3, Richards’ tying goal with 7.7 seconds left in the Rangers’ 3-2 overtime win in Game 5 and Dale Hunter’s bizarre usage of Alex Ovechkin.

Series breakdown …

FORWARDS: This looks to be as even as can be. Of Washington’s 146 goals, 124 were scored by forwards, led by Alex Ovechkin’s league-most 32. The Rangers finished 15th in the league with 126 goals. One hundred and eight were scored by forwards, led by Rick Nash’s team-high 21. The Blueshirts led the league in April with a 3.6 goals per game average, and John Tortorella has said the trade-deadline acquisitions of Ryane Clowe and Derick Brassard have provided the coach depth. Tortorella is hopeful Derek Dorsett — also acquired at the deadline — and Brian Boyle will be able to play at some point.

DEFENSE: This is a clear Blueshirt advantage. Tortorella has three defensive pairs he can use, compared to last spring when he was limited to five defensemen. The top pairing of Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh will be paired against Ovechkin’s line. They will be followed by the second and third groupings of Michael Del Zotto-Anton Stralman and Steve Eminger-John Moore. There is a decided drop off from Washington’s first two pairings — Mike Green-Karl Alzner and John Carlson-John Erskine — and the third unit of Jack Hillen and Steve Olesky.

GOALTENDING: Following the regular-season ending 4-0 win over the Devils at the Garden Saturday afternoon, Henrik Lundqvist said three words that should give the Rangers a great deal of confidence heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs: “I feel good.” Lundqvist ended the year with a 24-16-3 record and two shutouts. Last year’s playoff darling, Braden Holtby finished his first full year as a starter 23-13-1 with a 2.58 GAA and .920 save percentage. Holtby went 1-2 with a 2.71 GAA and .923 save percentage in three games against the Rangers.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Tortorella did not want to talk about special teams following Saturday’s season-ending win over the Devils, but it is a certainty the coaching staff and players are working on the man-up and man-down units. The Rangers finished 23rd (15.7 percent) and 15th (81.1 percent), respectively, on the power play and penalty kill. Washington’s 26.8 percent power-play efficiency led the NHL.

PREDICTION: This appears to be the best of the eight first-round series. Logical arguments can be made for either team winning. Both teams enter the playoffs playing their best hockey of the season. The Rangers won 10-of-14 games in April while Washington rebounded from a slow start to the season to win 16 of their final 20 games and clinched the Southeast Division title in the process. Lundqvist will be the difference.

RANGERS IN SEVEN.

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman for coverage throughout the postseason.

The post Rangers playoff preview: Back on track to title expectations appeared first on Metro.us.

Don’t call it a comeback. Brad Richards has played the same game all year.

“My game hasn’t been that much different,” Richards said after the Rangers’ 4-1 win over the Devils Sunday afternoon at the Garden.

The center finished the match with two points, and now has seven points (four goals and three assists) in the last three games.

“Hopefully they keep coming.”

Even though head coach John Tortorella prefers not to publicly rank his lines, Richards has become the third-line center following the trade deadline acquisitions of Ryane Clowe, Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett and John Moore.

Centering Clowe and Mats Zuccarello, Richards has 11 points in the 10 games since the April 3 deadline.

“[It’s] been an up-and-down year,” Richards said. “We want more consistency.”

Devils irked

Let’s just say NHL referees Chris Rooney and Francois St. Laurent should not ask the Devils to offer any job assessment evaluations.

The Devils were penalized seven times for a total of 14 minutes. Of the Devils’ seven penalties, two were bench minors and one was a game misconduct assessed to head coach Pete DeBoer with 15 seconds remaining.

“He knows we’re out of the playoffs and everybody is frustrated and just 15 seconds left,” Ilya Kovalchuk told reporters when asked about DeBoer’s ejection. “You don’t have to put on a show. We all respect the refs and we know their job is not easy, but you just have to respect the other people too.”

“A little frustration on my part that two of our players would get unsportsmanlike conducts in an elimination game,” DeBoer said. “The sensitivity of some of the officials is beyond me.”

Rooney was part of the officiating team which called Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, along with referee Dan O’Rourke and linesmen Derek Amell and Jean Morin.

Midway through the first period of that game, Steve Bernier was assessed a 10-minute misconduct for boarding Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi. The Kings scored three power-play goals en route to a 6-1 win that ended the Devils season.

When asked if the Devils harbored resentment toward Rooney dating back to Game 6, Ryan Carter told reporters, “I’m smart enough not to answer that.”

NHL notes …

» Despite the win, the Rangers are in eighth with the same amount of points (52) as the Senators. Ottawa holds a game in hand.

The Senators host Pittsburgh tonight. They finish the season with a game Thursday in Washington, at home Saturday night against the Flyers and in Boston Sunday night.

» Both the Rangers and Devils have three games remaining this season. The Rangers will be in Florida on Tuesday and Carolina on Thursday, while the Devils host Montreal and Pittsburgh on those days. The teams will meet at the Garden on April 27 to conclude their regular seasons.

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

The post Rangers Notebook: Goals coming for Brad Richards appeared first on Metro.us.

Brad Richards missed his second straight game as he recuperates from back and neck soreness after being cross-checked into the half boards by Buffalo’s Patrick Kaleta Sunday night.

The Rangers center was adamant the injury was “not a long-term thing,” but doesn’t “really know” when he can return to the lineup.

“It’s getting better as the week goes,” Richards told reporters after the Rangers’ early skate at the Nassau Coliseum. “Each day I wake up and hope I can get out and do something, but there’s no sense in making it go backwards or not being able to help the team.”

Richards said he was not suffering from headaches or concussion-like symptoms. Instead, the center said his back and neck “are locked up.”

“I don’t know where you want to start, how bad it could have been,” Richards said. “Overall I’m standing here talking about trying to play.”

Richards was still irritated about the incident. His body contorted like a slinky as he was slammed neck and chest first into the boards on the play.

“I don’t know what’s appropriate,” Richards said when asked if he thought the five-game suspension for Kaleta fit the crime. “Just hope someone doesn’t have to have a broken neck or carried off on a stretcher for that to sink in [that] it’s a crazy play. We learn that in pee wee — that you see someone’s numbers [and] you just don’t do that.

“Hopefully something worse doesn’t have to happen. We have to make a point on that.”

Hamrlik debuts

Thursday marked Roman Hamrlik’s first official day as a Blueshirt.

The Rangers claimed the defenseman off of waivers from Washington early Wednesday afternoon. The No. 1 overall pick in the 1992 draft has scored 155 goals and 638 points in 1,383 regular season games with Tampa Bay, Edmonton, the New York Islanders, Calgary, Montreal and Washington.

“Happy. Excited,” Hamrlik said when asked for his emotions once he learned he was claimed by the Rangers. “[I am] anxious to play. This is a really good team [with] one of the best [goaltenders] in the league. They have some great defensemen who can skate and move the puck [and] lots of speed in the front. This team is a Stanley Cup contender.”

Realignment on the horizon

NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr said in a statement that the NHLPA “has given consent to  realignment, to be re-evaluated following the 2014-15 season” following “discussions with the executive board.”

The NHL proposed a plan late last month in which the league would shrink from six divisions to four, with the Red Wings and Blue Jackets leaving the Western Conference for the East.

Under the proposed realignment, the Rangers would be in a division with the Blue Jackets, Islanders, Devils, Flyers, Penguins, Hurricanes and Capitals.

In a statement, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said, “The NHL Players’ Association confirmed to us today that it has consented to a revised plan for realignment, effective for the 2013-14 season. Our next step will be to bring the proposed plan for realignment to the NHL Board of Governors for its consideration. We will update the status of the process as future developments warrant.”

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

The post Rangers Notebook: Richards misses game, Hamrlik debuts appeared first on Metro.us.

Even though Brad Richards was declared out for last night’s nationally televised home match against the Flyers, head coach John Tortorella is not worried his star center will miss significant time.

“No,” the always-curt Tortorella said when asked if he was concerned it could be a long-term issue. “Banged up.”

Richards was cross-checked into the half boards 3:28 into the third period of Sunday’s game by Buffalo right wing Patrick Kaleta. Kaleta was assessed a five-minute major for cross-checking and given a game misconduct.

As per organizational policy, the Rangers did not disclose Richards’s condition.

Richards did not participate in practice Monday, and only skated briefly at the early skate Tuesday morning. TSN insider Darren Dreger tweeted in the mid-afternoon that he was told “Brad Richards is very stiff and sore and most definitely won’t play tonight.”

As a member of the Stars in 2010-11, Richards missed 10 games with a concussion. He finished that year with 28 goals and 77 points in 72 games.

The Rangers called up Micheal Haley from AHL Connecticut, where he recorded 158 penalty minutes in 56 games with the Whale this season. In 43 NHL games, all with the Islanders, Haley has totaled three points (two goals and an assist) and 151 penalty minutes.

Tortorella said he knows what Haley “brings in certain situations.”

The league announced late Monday afternoon that Kaleta had been suspended five games for boarding Richards. This is the fourth suspension in Kaleta’s 285-game NHL career, all played with the Sabres. The first game he is eligible to return is March 17 in Washington.

Kaleta told WGR 550, a sports radio station in Buffalo, that he watched replays of the hit numerous times, but wasn’t “going to get into it.” He added, “It’s over with and my focus now is forward and being able to help the guys when I can.”

Flyers still jelling

One of the issues to plague the Rangers over the first 20 games of the season has been a lack of identity.

Philadelphia head coach Peter Laviolette can empathize. He told reporters after the morning skate at the Garden he thinks his team “is working towards that identity.”

“I think, just based on the start of the year, there were some things that this team had to overcome,” Laviolette said.

The Flyers entered the game in the eighth spot in the East with a 11-11-1 record, but had won two in a row and seven out of their last 10.

One aspect of the Flyers’ game Laviolette expressed confidence in is the offensive attack. The Flyers rank sixth and ninth in the league, respectively, with 66 goals and a 2.87 goals per game average. Last year, the Flyers’ 260 goals and 3.17 goals per game average were second in the league.

“We want to get down to the offensive end; trying to score goals. I think we’re getting to that point. I think it’s starting to come,” Laviolette said. “We’re working on it.”

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

The post Rangers Notebook: Richards misses game, Tortorella not concerned appeared first on Metro.us.