Glen Sather on possible Brad Richards buyout: 'That decision will come in the summer'

The New York Rangers are primed for their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in 20 years, but alternate captain Brad Richards and general manager Glen Sather spent a good portion of "Stanley Cup media day" fielding questions about Richards' future in the Big Apple.

"I’ve thought about it a lot," Sather admitted on Tuesday per Pro Hockey Talk. "But it’s not something that we’re thinking about right now. We’re focused on what we’re doing, what the team is doing, how we’re going to play, who we’re playing against."

Continued Sather, "Certainly haven’t thought much about it lately. But that decision will come in the summer. It’s like all the decisions, we’ve got lots of free agents to sign. We’re happy with the way it is right now."

Richards' contributions have been key for New York in the postseason, and he's managed 11 critical points in 20 games played while logging second-line minutes at even-strength. Under the guidance of first-year Rangers bench boss Alain Vigneault, Richards resurrected his career this past season with 20 goals and 51 points - although his territorial deployment and matchups were carefully managed.

Qualifications aside, Richards has authored a solid bounce-back season after he was a healthy scratch in the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs. "It was the lowest point of my career," Richards said of his performance in the postseason a year ago. "You never want to be on the outside looking in when your teammates are battling in what I consider to be the best part of hockey — the playoffs."

As for the potential of a summer buyout, Richards described it as kind of an afterthought at the moment. He's got a second Stanley Cup to win, after all. "I’ve been too busy," Richards said. "It’s not the right time to think about it. It would hurt my game and it would hurt the team if I was worrying about it, so I haven’t really thought about it."

The Rangers decided against using a compliance buyout on Richards' nine-year, $60-million dollar contract last summer, but they'll have another opportunity to clear the aging center's $6.66 million cap-hit off of the books later this month. It'll be their last such opportunity since the salary cap hit clearing "compliance buyouts" expires after this summer.

Looking over the fundamentals, it's clear that buying-out Richards may be a necessary evil for the Rangers. The Eastern Conference champs currently have nearly $54 million in salary cap space committed to just 13 players against an expected $69-70 million salary cap upper-limit for next season, which puts them in a bit of a precarious position this summer. 

With a number of key restricted free agents due a raise (Derick Brassard, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello and John Moore) and some additional veteran pieces due a big payday as unrestricted free agents (Brian Boyle, Anton Stralman), an aging $6.66 million second-line center seems like a luxury item the Rangers may not be able to afford going forward.

But that's a subject for another day from a Rangers perspective. And tough decisions can seem much less complicated in the afterglow of a championship victory.

If he's bought out later this month, Richards will be due a shade over $1 million per year through the 2025-26 league year. Based on his performance this season, there will also be significant demand for his services as an unrestricted free agent, should he hit the "secondary market" after a compliance buyout. One wouldn't have said that last summer.

[H/T Pro Hockey Talk. Contract information courtesy capgeek.com]