On Brad Richards …
Mike Morreale: Brad Richards announced his retirement yesterday.
General Fanager: Even though he retired, Richards will get $5,055,556 from the Rangers this year from buying him out. He’s is owed $14.55 from now until 2025-26.
On the Colorado Avalanche and Mikhail Grigorenko …
Mike Chambers: The Avs and Mikhail Grigoenko agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.3 million. He made $675,000 last year.
Cap Friendly: The Avs currently have $7.03 million in salary cap space with 21 players under contract and RFA Tyson Barrie remaining unsigned.
On the Vancouver Canucks …
Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province: Botchford wonders if the Canucks should trade defenseman Chris Tanev, who was one of the leagues best at suppressing shot attempts last year.
Trading Tanev would depend on the return. Botchford notes that Tanev is better than Adam Larsson, who was able to land the Devils Taylor Hall. There has never been a lot of hype around Tanev though and he doesn’t bring a lot of offense.
Botchford suggests the Canucks could have been offering Tanev and the No. 5 pick to the Canadiens for P.K. Subban.
Tanev is under contract for four more years at $4.45 million.
Would a Tanev for Tyson Barrie deal work?
Chris Nichols of Today’s SlapShot: Former Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman on TSN 1040 on if he thinks the Canucks fans could accept a full rebuild.
“I think that you have an extremely educated fan base here. I don’t see why not. At the same time, people want to win. And they want to go to the rink every night and see team be competitive and have a chance to win every night. But I think that you’ve seen it in other cities. Obviously Toronto has embraced the plan that they’re executing. I’ve read and heard a lot about it in Edmonton with respect to what they’re trying to do. I definitely think that it’s conceivable.
“Having said that though, you look at your team and you look at the complexion of your players, the age of your players, who you have – and it isn’t that simple. It’s not just a factor of deciding, ‘We’re going to reconstruct this. We’re going to go down to the bottom.’