[Sylvanfan]

It sort of amazes me how teams can take an asset with value and turn it into a liability by attaching a contract to that asset.

Is Richards having a case of mid career burn out, where maybe he can get it back and rebound to be productive. Or has the Dany Heatley school of offseason work outs rendered him finished at the age of 29....much like many players who played in the 70's and 80's (against peers who did the same thing).

If Richards had no contract attached to him, I'm sure several NHL teams would be willing to take a risk. But that contract is making 30 teams stay clear of him. It's pretty amazing, as in 2004, he easily could have been traded.