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The Chicago Blackhawks filled their hole at second-line centre by securing the services of a veteran at a cut-rate price. Numbers Game looks at the Blackhawks signing Brad Richards. The Blackhawks Get: C Brad Richards. Richards, 34, has been a productive scorer throughout his career, but that productivity has waned as he approaches his mid-thirties. While he finished with a respectable 51 points in 82 games last season, that 0.62 points per game represented a career low and the second-lowest rate of his career was in 2012-2013, when he had 0.74 points per game. The downward trend is pretty clear at this point. He played 18:40 per game last season, his lowest average time on ice since his rookie season in 2000-2001. Given the massive contract that Richards had with the New York Rangers (nine years, $60-million), and the new recapture penalties that were imposed in the latest collective bargaining agreement, the Rangers had little choice but to buy out Richards, after paying him $33-million for the first three years of his deal. A long and productive career leaves Richards with few needs financially, so he went into his newfound free agency looking for a good fit and settled on joining the Blackhawks, a Stanley Cup contender who could use an upgrade at their second-line centre spot. In the past couple years, even as his point production has started to fall, Richards has had his zone starts tilted towards the offensive zone, with more than 65% of his shifts starting in the offensive zone. As a result, hes had strong possession stats, which may be enough to suggest that, even in decline, in a sheltered role, Richards would be an upgrade on Michal Handzus as Chicagos number two centre. In Chicago, there is a good opportunity for Richards to have a productive year. Any combination of the Blackhawks top scoring wingers includes Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad, so playing with two of them ought to give Richards a chance to have decent even-strength production. Whether Richards can match last seasons scoring totals, however, probably will have some dependence on power play production and, over the past couple seasons, Richards has really struggled to produce with the man advantage. Furthermore, Richards presence likely means that top Blackhawks prospect Teuvo Teravainen wont be starting the season in Chicago and that may be fine for his overall development, but if Teravainen shows that hes ready, it would be easy enough to see Richards bumped down the depth chart, as has happened from time to time with the Rangers over the past couple seasons. There is a benefit to the contract that Richards signed with Chicago -- a one-year, $2-million deal -- in that his declining production in New York was frequently contrasted with how much money the Rangers had tied up to get him. Now, Richards is a bargain signing and if he gives Chicago decent second-line production, he would bring a positive return on investment. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Julio Urias Youth Jersey . 2015 Oscar nomination pending. Here is an open letter from Steven Stamkos to his fans: When I shot this final Moment Zero film last August, it was a fun few days on set with Coke Zero and Jordan Eberle in my hometown of Markham. Russell Martin Dodgers Jersey . His Brazilian opponents said he produced miracles. There is no doubt that Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was the one responsible for spoiling Brazils hopes of another World Cup victory at its home tournament. http://www.ladodgersprostore.us/Joc-Pederson-dodgers-jersey/. The Giants chances of winning the division were dealt a serious blow by the three-game sweep at the hands of the lowly Padres. The Giants open a three-game series at Dodger Stadium on Monday night. San Francisco is still in good shape to clinch a wild-card berth, although it dropped into a tie with Pittsburgh in the race for the top spot. Justin Turner Womens Jersey . Make that, almost always subjective. Saturday at Carrow Road, the spirit of fair play trumped the rulebook, costing Norwich City three points. Julio Urias Dodgers Jersey .J. Hardy finally got in on the fun Saturday, against a likely opponent.Liam Sutcliffe says Leeds was a tough place to be during the Rhinos dark days but confidence is now at a season high. Brian McDermotts side have gained some momentum towards the end of the season as they attempt to topple Super Leagues second-place side the Warriors. Ryan Hall joins Jon Wells to talk through Leeds victory over league leaders Hull FC Wigan coach Shaun Wane concedes Leeds are the form team and Sutcliffe reveals there is a new mindset among the defending champions, who have won three of their last four matches after making a poor start to their campaign. Its good coming in on a Monday knowing youve had a win at the weekend, said Sutcliffe. At the start of the year, everyone was obviously down and low on confidence after loss after loss.It wasnt the nicest place to be but theres no point looking back, weve got to plan for the middle eights and everyone is full of confidence.Weve had a couple of wins and a couple of decent performances. I think the stuff weve been doing over the last few weeks has been building and building and we do feel were improving week by week. It showed in the victory over Hull. It does help having players back and I think were playing a different way to how we were playing at the start of the year and its obviously working.Tom Briscoe is the latest of their long-term injured players to return to action while the Rhinos also appear to have discovered the answer to the hooking problems following the arrival of James Segeyaro.Sutcliffe, who was seen as the natural successor to playmaker Kevin Sinfield at the start of the season, has made a promising switch to the full-back role vacated by Zak Hardaker.Im enjoying it, Sutcliffe said of his new position. The more I play there, the more confident I feel.Its similar to half-back attacking wise but there are other aspeects you have to learn.ddddddddddddI got a fair few tips from Zak before he went and Ashton (Golding) has been helping as well. Even though hes younger than me, hes had more experience in that role. Highlights from the Magic Weekend match between Leeds and Wigan in May If thats where I play for the rest of the year, hopefully I can keep on improving.Leeds visitors Wigan are also in a rich run of form after winning their last eight league and cup matches, but Wane is acutely aware of the threat posed by last years treble winners.Ive still not forgotten what they did last year, that was unbelievable, Wane said. Ive said all year theyd be back and its just our luck that we play them now.Not many teams beat Hull in Hull and they were good for the win.Theyre playing better than us at the minute. We need to put a dent in them. Were not playing that well and were down on numbers but well try and put 17 players out there that will test them.Wigan are without skipper Sean OLoughlin through suspension while Wane is likely to give a debut to new signing Frank Paul Nuuausala off the bench following his arrival this week.Leeds Rhinos: Carl Ablett, Mitch Achurch, Tom Briscoe, Rob Burrow, Adam Cuthbertson, Brett Delaney, Keith Galloway, Mitch Garbutt, Ashton Golding, Ryan Hall, Ash Handley, Jimmy Keinhorst, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Jordan Lilley, Joel Moon, James Segeyaro, Brad Singleton, Liam Sutcliffe, Kallum Watkins.Wigan Warriors: Joe Bretherton, Josh Charnley, Ben Flower, Oliver Gildart, Jack Higginson, Willie Isa, Dom Manfredi, Lee Mossop, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Sam Powell, Dan Sarginson, Jake Shorrocks, Matty Smith, Kyle Shelford, Ryan Sutton, Taulima Tautai, Lewis Tierney, Sam Tomkins and George Williams.Watch Leeds v Wigan live on Sky Sports 3 HD on Friday from 7.45pm. Catch the match for £6.99 on NOW TV. 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