For those Bruins fans who've pushed the incident far out of their minds, here's a refresher of what the B's received from San Jose in exchange for their prized captain in one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history. Even though the Bruins eventually came out on the winning side, having won a Stanley Cup before the Thornton-led Sharks, the B's still received questionable talent in the form of Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart. Sturm was really the only one of the three who panned out in black and gold, but none were the part of any major success.
The Flyers got considerably better talent in return for Richards –- the Los Angeles Kings coughed up Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds and a draft pick for Philly's prized captain. The Flyers also freed up some cap space with the trade, something they needed after signing goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.
The trade value might have been different, but the effects are no doubt similar — for the team and especially for fans. In fact, it's worse for the faithful Flyers fans.
Richards was no doubt a favorite in Philly. He played with the Flyers for six years, and his jersey sales were in the top 20. Fans love their captains, and Philadelphia fans are going to miss Richards — much like how Bruins fans missed Thornton once he was traded. In fact, there are still a few Bruins fans who wear their old No. 19 jerseys in honor of their long-gone captain.
Fans get upset, but most NHL teams don't really take the fan reaction into consideration – hockey, after all, is a business. Just like something needed to change in Boston, something needed to change in Philly.
The Bruins eventually won the Stanley Cup, but it took a few years of trades and new contracts for Peter Chiarelli to clean up the mess from the Thornton deal. In 2006, a year after the trade, the Bruins struggled mightily.
Things probably won't be too different for the Flyers next year. Yes, the trade gave them cap room for Bryzgalov's lucrative contract, and the team needs a solid goaltender. But there's no guarantee that Bryzgalov will perform well.
Philadelphia, like New York and Boston, is a major sports city where the pressure is always high. Fans there can get rough.
The Flyers made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010 without a solid goalie because they had a solid team playing in front of the net. That solid team no longer exists, though, and Richards could have been the last piece of a series of trades that will implode the Flyers.
Last year, the Flyers got rid of Simon Gagne. This year, in addition to Richards, it was Jeff Carter.
Trading those other two players was a bad idea, but trading Richards was undoubtedly the worst. Not only was he Philadelphia's best player, but he was their leader and the face of the franchise. The emotional ramifications of losing a captain seldom helps a team, and Richards was one of those captains who, unlike Henrik Sedin, stood up for his fellow teammates and was never afraid to play tough.
What's worse is that the Richards deal came out of nowhere. In a conference call, Richards said he found out first over the Internet, and he added that he never would have signed a long-term deal if he knew he was going to be traded. If a player signs a 12-year deal with a team, it signals to everyone that said player is probably going to retire there.
It's possible that the Flyers won't be terrible next year, especially since they acquired some good talent and added another skilled player in Sean Courturier, thanks to the eighth-overall pick acquired from Columbus in the Carter trade.
But it seems unlikely that the losses of Carter and Richards will be easy to overcome — especially Richards.
It might not be easy to replace a goal scorer, but it's nearly impossible to replace an emotional leader. It also won't be easy for the Flyers to reacquire the faith of their fans. If the Flyers don't do as well as this year, the fans could become restless.
The Flyers may have gotten Mike Richards' weight in prospects, but it doesn't mean they'll be able to overcome his loss. Yes, Chris Pronger is there to try to take Richards' place as an emotional leader, but he's not Mike Richards.
The Bruins traded Thornton right after the lockout. In the season before, the Bruins made it to the playoffs. After the trade, it took the B's two years to head back to the postseason. The trade really hurt the Bruins — there's no question of that.
In other words, if it's not broken, don't try to fix it. Granted the Flyers haven't won a Stanley Cup in a while, but they also haven't been cellar-dwellers in quite some time either.
The Flyers may have taken a step backward this past season, but they were by no means broken. In the wake of trading their captain, though, they could end up taking another step backward next season and beyond.
