Senators Sign Luke Richardson

UPDATE - 10:04PM, August 8, 2007: It is now official.

While not yet official, it has been reported that the Ottawa Senators have signed veteran defenseman Luke Richardson to a 1-year, $500,000 deal that would likely see him split his time between Ottawa and Binghamton.

This will be Richardson's 20th NHL season. The Ottawa native is 38 years old and will add some size (6'4" and 215 lbs.) and veteran grit to the team. As the Sens' 8th defenseman, this move will make it more likely that Schubert will spend his season on left wing, and Richardson will come into play during injuries, and jockey for the 6th slot on the blueline with Nycholat. Richardson had a career high 4 goals in 89-90 with the Leafs, and a career high 19 assists and 21 points with the Oilers in 91-92.

Certainly not an offensive powerhouse, I expect to see Richardson hitting hard and putting up modest positive +/- numbers next season when playing in Ottawa. I will update when more becomes available, but this move would once again show that Murray is trying to bulk and toughen up his team, and also add more Canadian (finally, an Ottawa native!) players to the team, which will allow the Sens to continue from last season's success with even more heart.