The Vancouver Canucks have signed Los Angeles Kings centre Brad Richardson and Montreal Canadiens defenceman Yannick Weber.
Vancouver Canucks President & General Manager Michael D. Gillis made the announcement Friday afternoon.
Richardson, 28, appeared in 16 regular season games for the Kings last season, recording six points (1-5-6) and 10 penalty minutes and played 11 playoff games, collecting one assist.
“”I felt most comfortable with Vancouver. They made me feel like they really wanted me,” Richardson told reporters in a conference call.
Richardson, who won the Stanley Cup with the Kings last year, said that he hopes to bring the cup to Vancouver.
Over the span of his eight-year NHL career with the Kings and the Colorado Avalanche, the Belleville, Ontario native registered 105 points (43-62-105) and 183 penalty minutes in 391 games in addition to 10 points (5-5-10) and 14 penalty minutes in 45 playoff games. Richardson was a member of the LA Kings Stanley Cup championship team in 2012.
The 5’11”, 191-pound centre was originally drafted 163rd overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the fifth round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
Twenty-four-year-old Swiss free agent Weber signed a one-year deal with the Canucks for $650,000.
Weber was drafted by the Canadiens in the third round of the 2007 NHL draft.
The trade came after he didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Canadiens.
According to the National Hockey League, Weber struggled to get in the lineup under new Montreal coach Michel Therrien last season and played only six games with two assists.
Weber’s ability to help on the power play with a heavy, accurate shot from the point may help the Canucks, but the NHL reported that he had trouble developing his game during his three seasons in Montreal.
Comments