Player evaluation: Richardson

BRAD RICHARDSON Richardson mug
This season: 81 games, 11 goals, 16 assists, 37 penalty minutes, 12:51 average ice time.
The good: After a frustrating 2008-09 season, Richardson made the most of every opportunity given to him this season. He started out on the fourth line and, in short time, had elevated himself to a successful run on the first line with Anze Kopitar and Wayne Simmonds. Richardson is a tireless worker, a strong skater and a smart player who is able to play center and wing and mesh well with any linemates.
The bad: Richardson is a bit of a “tweener,” in that his skill level suggests he should play more than a fourth-line role, yet he doesn’t seem to have the consistent offensive ability to play a top-six role. Richardson was once a 40-goal scorer in junior hockey. If he could develop into even a 20-goal screr at the NHL level, he would make things much easier for the Kings.
Going forward: Richardson is an unrestricted free agent this summer, but it’s hard to imagine that the Kings wouldn’t want to bring him back. Finding the correct role will be the challenge. Should he be the leader of a strong fourth line? Can he handle a third-line “stopper role” with Handzus and Simmonds? Can he play his way into a top-six role?


Rules for Blog Commenting

  • No profanity, slurs or other offensive language. Replacing letters with symbols does not turn expletives into non-expletives.
  • Personal attacks against other blog commenters, and/or blatant attempts to antagonize other comments, are not tolerated. Respectful disagreement is encouraged. Posts that continually express the same singular opinion will be deleted.
  • Comments that incite political, religious or similar debates will be deleted.
  • Please do not discuss, or post links to websites that illegally stream NHL games.
  • Posting under multiple user names is not allowed. Do not type in all caps. All violations are subject to comment deletion and/or banning of commenters, per the discretion of the blog administrator.

Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.

Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.