BRAD RICHARDSON
This season: 31 games, 0 goals, 5 assists, 11 penalty minutes, 10:48 average ice time.
The good: In a season full of fits and starts — caused both by coach’s decisions and a freak injury — Richardson did show some potential. He’s a strong skater and plays with some grit, and his 14 goals (in 38 games) with Lake Erie of the AHL in 2007-08 indicates that he has some offensive potential.
The bad: Richardson seemed like the awkward Christmas gift that someone gave Terry Murray. Lombardi spent a second-round draft pick to get Richardson, and Murray never seemed quite sure what to do with him. The season’s most bizarre injury took place in early December, when Richardson suffered a cut on his lower leg during practice and ended up missing almost two months because the injury kept getting aggravated.
Going forward: Richardson falls into a dangerous category, as do several other forwards on the Kings’ roster. He’s a third- or fourth-line player on a team that had a ton of them this season. Richardson spent his junior career with the Owen Sound Attack under GM Michael Futa, who is now the Kings’ co-director of amateur scouting, so the Kings must see something in Richardson. Will he get an extended opportunity to show it next season?