2008 Final Grade: C-
2007 Grade: C+
Links:
{{richardson}} (hockey-reference page)
2008 ITCS (aka highly unofficial) Richardson game log
Season Stats: 22gp 2g 3a 5pt -3
Minutes: 296.6 (16th among forwards), EV 11:39, PP :02, PK 1:47, ATOI 13:29
1st Half: 14gp 1g 2a 3pt -3
2nd Half: 8gp 1g 1a 2pt E
Playoffs: DNP
Best Month: December (8gp 0g 2a 2pt E)
Positions: LW (17), C (5)
Lines: 4th (11), 3rd (8), 1st (3)
Linemates:
LW: Wolski (2), Hlinka (1), Smith (1),
C: Guite (11), Sakic (3), Hlinka (1), Hensick (1), Arnason (1)
RW: Brunette (7), Laperriere (6), McCormick (6), Svatos (2), Parker (1)
Season: It was a disaster of an NHL season for Richardson, but he did set career highs in his 40-point AHL season.
Report: Well, that was no good. Richardson followed up a promising 2006-2007 campaign with a stinker. A wrist injury at the start of the season slowed him out of the gates and he never regained momentum. He was shuffled between Denver and Cleveland in the first few months and his longest streak with the Avs was just 8 games in February. During that stretch, skating mostly with Ben Guite and Ian Laperriere, Richardson finally seemed to be finding his form - he had 2 points and was +3 in 7 games. Then on February 14th he was -3 in a 4-1 loss to the Blues and Richardson was done - he was back in the AHL the next day...this time, for good. While his overall ice time was about the same from the previous year, his PK ice time dropped by over a minute per game. In my grade last year, I said that Richardson needed to use that deceptively good wrist shot more. Obviously, that didn't happen. While it's been speculated that the wrist injury was a big factor here (especially early on), it's worth noting that Richie seemed to have little problem scoring with Lake Erie. And, of course, when he did play he was getting bounced from line to line (and in and out of the lineup). So, is his poor season Quenneville's fault? Richardson's? The injury? It's probably a combination of all three, with Quenneville being the biggest.
Fast Fact: 4 of Richardson's 5 points this year were scored at home (11 games at home, 11 on the road)
2007-2008 Salary (and Cap Number): $600,000 ($558,000)
2008-2009 Status: RFA
Outlook: Brad Richardson was scratched on January 5th in favor of not one but TWO rookie defensemen at forward and was sent down to Lake Erie the next day. In game four of the Detroit series, the Avs were so depleted at forward that Joel Quenneville opted to dress 7 defensemen - again, with Richardson available. If Quenneville had stayed, I would have said it was almost a lock that Richardson would be moving on. That situation may change now that Tony Granato is the coach, but Richie is still going to have to produce more if he wants to stick around in the NHL.