NHL Center Brad Richards Retires

By ESPN

Longtime NHL center Brad Richards has retired after 15 seasons in the league, the NHL Players' Association announced Wednesday.

Richards made stops with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. A 2011 All-Star, he collected 298 goals and 634 assists in his 15 seasons.

Richards, 36, helped lead the Lightning to their only Stanley Cup title (2004), collecting 26 points in 23 playoff games and earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the postseason. He also helped the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup title in 2015.

The Lightning and Blackhawks were among Richards' former teams to congratulate Richards on Twitter. Former teammate and reigning MVP Patrick Kane also paid tribute to him in a tweet.

knowing what you have accomplished together."

He won the 2004 Lady Byng Memorial trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly play. And in 2001, Richards finished second behind goalie Evgeni Nabokov in the NHL's rookie of the year vote.

Richards was selected by the Lightning in the third round of the 1998 NHL draft. He made his NHL debut two years later, and after helping Rimouski Oceanic win consecutive Canadian Junior Memorial Cup titles.

Johansson, Capitals Agree On Deal

He spent six-plus seasons in Tampa Bay before being traded to Dallas in 2007-08.

Marcus Johansson was back in Toronto for another arbitration hearing with the Washington Capitals, but this time he didn't have to go through with it.

Hours before Johansson and the Capitals were set to go to arbitration for the second time, they agreed on a $13.75 million, three-year deal. The 25-year-old Swedish forward will count $4.583 million against the salary cap, almost exactly between the two sides' arbitration asking prices but on a longer contract.

Johansson got as close as the entrance to the hotel where NHL arbitration cases are heard before the deal got done.

"I don't think anyone wants to go to arbitration. That's kind of a last resort,'' Johansson said on a conference call from Toronto on Wednesday. "It was a little tight schedule before the meeting, but I'm really happy that we worked it out.''

Johansson will make $4.25 million next season and $4.75 million in 2017-18 and 2018-19 on a contract that's similar to the one former teammate Mathieu Perreault signed as a restricted free agent with the Winnipeg Jets earlier this summer.