Canucks snag Brad Richardson from Calgary on trade deadline day

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Brad Richardson is a member of the Vancouver Canucks once again.

The Canucks have reacquired the veteran centre off waivers from the Calgary Flames.

Transaction: #Canucks claim forward Brad Richardson off waivers from Calgary.

— Canucks PR (@CanucksPR) March 21, 2022

The 37-year-old forward never fit in well with the Flames, scoring just four points (2-2-4) in 27 games.

“Just an awesome, awesome kid,” Flames general manager Brad Treliving said Monday. “Real battler. Found himself out of the lineup here. Glad he’s going to get an opportunity there. I can’t say enough good things about the character of Brad. We wish him all the best and thank him for everything he did for us this year.”

Richardson is averaging under 10 minutes of ice time per game (9:56) this season in Calgary. He hasn’t been relied on to kill penalties much for the Flames, but that’s a role he’s excelled at in the past — and something the Canucks could use right now.

Another area Richardson can help is in the faceoff circle. He has won 58.8% of the draws he’s taken, and has a career faceoff winning percentage of 51.9%.

The Belleville, Ontario native is a pending unrestricted free agent, and is set to make $800,000 this season.

Richardson has been a Canuck before, playing two seasons in Vancouver from 2013 to 2015, notching 44 points (19-25-44) in 118 games as a reliable bottom-six centre.

He has 852 games of NHL experience. Richardson scored a career-high 31 points with the Arizona Coyotes in 2015-16, his first season after leaving Vancouver. He scored a career-high 19 goals in 2018-19, helped by a remarkable four-goal game against the Canucks.

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