And so Brad Richards’ free agency goes overnight and into today, into Day 2, and it does so with the Rangers very much alive in the quest to sign 31-year-old center who is the Class of the Class of 2011.
The Post has learned that Richards remains extremely interested in playing Broadway even though the Blueshirts’ original offer was well below at least two other bids he received. Sources indicate that Calgary had made the second-highest offer, while the top bidder was unidentified.
The Flames, Kings, Maple Leafs and Flyers — who signed Jaromir Jagr for $3.3M in the morning — remained in the hunt when the parties called it a night. It is not known whether negotiations remain open or whether Richards is simply taking a rational amount of time to consider all his options and all of the attendant ramifications, professional and personal, before making this decision about the remainder of his NHL career.
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.
It is not known if the Blueshirts increased their offer during the night.
Richards won the 2004 Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy in Tampa Bay playing for current Rangers’ head coach John Tortorella, a selling point. The Blueshirts chose not to send a delegation of executive suitors to meet with Richards in person at the offices of his agent, Pat Morris, outside Toronto, as did so much of the competition.
The Rangers made their pitch by phone. CEO Jim Dolan, GM Glen Sather, Tortorella, and special assistant Mark Messier were among those who spoke to Richards, who apparently has received as clean a medical report as possible in the aftermath of the concussion he sustained last Feb. 13 that sidelined him for four weeks and 10 games.
Deliberations and lobbying extended into the night with Jarome Iginla calling Richards on the Flames’ behalf. Wayne Gretzky and Kobe Bryant appeared in a Kings’ recruiting video. Lightning GM Steve Yzerman visited in person but Tampa Bay dropped out in the early evening.
Richards, who recorded 77 points (28-49) in 72 games following a 91-point (24-67) 2009-10, is an elite playmaker and power play quarterback whose presence would add a layer to the Rangers’ talent level.
At this point, of course, Richards isn’t even a Ranger.
Ruslan Fedotenko, however, remained a Ranger, signing a one-year, $1.4M deal while Mike Rupp became a Ranger, leaving Pittsburgh for a three-year deal worth $1.5M per.