Its become pretty typical of New York Rangers’ fans. The team signs or acquires a high-priced player and, if he struggles for a season or two, fans begin calling for him to be moved or bought out.
In the case of Brad Richards there are several additional items to consider.
Richards has really struggled this season; that’s well known. And if these were traditional circumstances, a buyout would not even be an option, but these aren't and it is.
On July 2nd, 2011, the Rangers and Richards agreed to a nine-year, $58.5 million contract. It was a front-loaded deal that paid Richards $12 million in his first two seasons, but only $1 million in his last three.
This was a cap circumvention tactic that Glen Sather and other fellow general managers used to acquire top players with cap flexibility. In the previous CBA, a player’s cap hit was the average of all of his yearly salaries, and in most cases that brought the players cap hit down. In the new CBA, a players’ salary may not increase or decrease by more than 35 percent year-to-year.
At 30-years-old, Richards was looking to sign his final contrac ...
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Article written by Andrew Capitelli
Why the NY Rangers Should Buyout Brad Richards
February 19th, 2013 by Andrew Capitelli Leave a reply »
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