Rangers sign NCAA center & defensive specialist Justin Richards
By Steve Paulus
The New York Rangers announced the signing of yet another college player, forward Justin Richards from Minnesota-Duluth. He’s the third college free agent signed by the team.
The New York Rangers are keeping busy, today signing their third college free agent, center Justin Richards from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Richards just concluded his junior year for the Bulldogs and he fills a number of needs for the Blueshirts if he can make the jump to the NHL.
Extremely honored to have signed my first NHL contract with the @NYRangers ! Thank you to @UMDMensHockey my coaches, teammates, and everyone else who made my experience in Duluth so special. Very excited for this next chapter! https://t.co/CgGGpBIQJh
— Justin Richards (@justrich16) April 2, 2020
Richards is 5’11” and 192 pounds and turned 22 just two weeks ago. Over his three years at Minnesota-Duluth he has seen steady improvement in his offense going from no goals and nine assists as a freshman to 12 goals and 32 points as a sophomore to 14 goals and 25 points in this shortened season. He served as co-captain for the Bulldogs this season.
Here’s where it gets interesting. For the second straight season, Richards was just named the top defensive forward in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). Not only that, he is outstanding on faceoffs. He won 434 of 735 draws, an excellent 59.1% winning percentage.
He was fifth in the NCAA in the total number of faceoffs won and led his conference in shorthanded goals with three and added a shorthanded assist. He also scored three power play goals and had a shooting percentage of 20%.
Richards was an important player on a Minnesota-Duluth team that won back to back national championships in 2018 and 2019. This season they finished second in the NCHC with a 22-10-2 record. The Bulldogs are ranked fourth nationally by USCHO.com. Despite his reputation as a defensive specialist, he still was tied for seventh in goals in he conference while ranking 27th overall in scoring.
Richards’ father is Tampa Bay Lightning Assistant Coach Todd Richards who was formerly the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild.
Richards is the third college free agent signed by the Blueshirts. On March 9 they signed center Patrick Khodorenko from Michigan State and on March 20 they signed right winger Austin Rueschoff from Western Michigan University. They also signed first round draft pick K’Andre Miller to an Entry Level Contract out of Wisconsin.
The Rangers struck gold with the last undrafted free agent they signed from Minnesota-Duluth when they inked Neal Pionk in 2017.
Must Read. Say goodbye to Lundqvist and Staal (maybe). light