‘New’ Canuck Brad Richardson is ‘cool’ coming back to Vancouver

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Brad Richardson knows if you can deal with the demanding and no-nonsense hockey dictator that is Darryl Sutter, you can probably play for anybody.

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After all, he also endured erratic and entertaining coach John Tortorella in a 2013-14 season that went sideways for the Vancouver Canucks.

“I’ve played a lot of years on a lot of teams and have seen a lot of stuff,” Richardson said Tuesday following a Canucks practice after being claimed off waivers Monday from the Flames. “I’m here to help and also be a good player, and you want to do both.

“I wasn’t playing much in Calgary on a very good team and I’ve learned a lot from Darryl and we’re close. It was a first for me to go through waivers and Calgary didn’t want me to go anywhere, but I’m happy in a way that it happened because I want to play. You want to enjoy the latter stages of your career.

“I’m older and maybe slower, but I’ve always loved being here and I’m happy to be back. It’s cool.”

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Richardson, 37, is on an expiring one-year contract at $US 800,000 and his value the rest of this season is as an effective bottom-six pivot. He has always been good in the faceoff circle (58.8 per cent in 27 games with the Flames), strong on the penalty kill with Calgary’s fourth-ranked unit (85.3 per cent) and hard to play against with an in-your-face style .

Richardson won a Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 with Sutter at the coaching helm and has logged 852 regular-season games with six National Hockey League clubs.

He looked comfortable at practice between Juho Lammikko and Matthew Highmore as an alignment adjustment with Tyler Motte traded to the New York Rangers at the Monday trade deadline for a 2023 fourth-round draft pick.

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“I know they’ve had a good year and have been a good checking line and that’s what I’ve done in my career,” Richardson said of his new linemates. “I’m excited and motivated. Bruce (Boudreau) is a veteran coach and has been around a long time and is probably quite a bit the opposite of Darryl.”

Richardson has hit double digits in goals on five occasions, including a career-high 19 with the Arizona Coyotes in 2019-20, but had just four points (2-2) in 27 games with the Flames this season. One of his biggest attributes of him is to handle the pain game that comes with injuries.

When the Canucks advanced to the 2015 playoffs against the Flames, Richardson was coming off missing 37 games with a micro-fracture of his ankle.

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It came from friendly fire.

Richardson went to the net in a game in Carolina, taking the full brunt of a Chris Tanev slapshot and missed 24 games, came back for a pair, and was gone again in agony. The pressure of the skate boot against the ankle, the quick twists and turns and odd stick whack became constant concerns.

When Richardson was asked prior to that 2015 playoff — Bo Horvat is the only other Canuck remaining from that six-game exit — if he was pain free, he rightfully said: “What is pain free?”

In that 2012 championship run, Richardson missed the first three games of the opening series with an appendectomy procedure.

Boudreau knows what he’s getting in the gritty, old-school warrior he can lean on.

“We’ve known him for a long time and he will be a solid pro,” the coach predicted of Richardson. “The speed and the way he was moving pucks (in practice), you could tell what kind of team he came from — a real speedy team — which is what we’ve been trying to get here. And he does it well.

“I thought Brad was really good his last two years in Arizona. He has been through the wars and competes and knows how to win. You play on that Calgary team and you know how to win.

“I like experienced guys because they know how to make up for maybe slowing down a step or two. Moving Lammikko to the left side may mean losing some speed, but hopefully not a lot more.

“Guys like Brad are around for this long because they know how to compete and win, (and) that’s something you can’t get enough of on any team. He’s not a spare piece. He’s going to be playing every night.”

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OVERTIME— Boudreau didn’t name his starting goals for back-to-backs on Wednesday in Colorado and Thursday in Minnesota. “We’ll split them,” he said. He could throw backup Jaroslav Halak to the wolves against the high-octane Avalanche and save Thatcher Demko for the Wild. But Minnesota is also on a roll and added veteran stopper Marc-Andre Fleury at the trade deadline. Nils Höglander (groin) will not make the four-game trip. Kyle Burroughs, who has missed 13 games with a suspected rib injury, practiced Tuesday, will be on the trip and is close to playing. Tucker Poolman (headaches, migraines) and Jason Dickinson (lower body) are also not making the trip that concludes with games Saturday in Dallas and Monday in St. Louis. The club is taking just 12 forwards oh the road.

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