NHL Trade Rumors: Brad Richards To Toronto Maple Leafs Talk Is Just Hot Air

Compared to the sports media community, a seventh-grade girls locker-room cannot hold a candle to the rampant rumor mongering that rages on a daily basis.

It's true, as sports fans, we love rumors almost as much as the game itself.

Rumors, in and of themselves, provide hope, predictions, titillation and debate—all the things that simply following the games provide.

In the NHL, entire websites have been created, and continue to run successfully, fueled solely by rumors.

Now, at some point, the source of the rumors and the actual credibility of those sources seems to have become a non-issue, as reports that are later revealed to be wholly imaginative, with not even a minimal connection to anything factual generate all kinds of reactions, excitement and anger.

You know, "buzz".

However, one of the hottest rumors out there right now is not a figment of some attention hungry (maybe even "anonymous") blogger or loose cannon reporter.

The talk about the Dallas Stars trading Brad Richards to the Toronto Maple Leafs has been commented on by Richards' himself.

This makes it no less a rumor, but adds credibility to the possibility of the rumor becoming fact.

Regardless, the Leafs acquiring Richards via trade seems to be a ridiculous notion for several reasons.

First of all, this kind of talk is happening much too early in the season to be taken seriously.

After jumping out to a surprisingly strong start, the Dallas Stars have slumped to last in the Pacific Division.

However, with a winning record, and just five points separating Dallas from the division leading Los Angeles Kings, there's no reason to believe the Stars are ready to throw in the towel on their playoff hopes by trading away their leading scorer.

Second, the reason Brad Richards is at the center of all of this trade talk is due largely to the uncertain ownership situation in Dallas and the fact that he is in the last year of his contract.

The Stars current owner, Tom Hicks is in financial turmoil with the Stars and is looking to sell the team.  Even if GM Joe Nieuwendyk would like to sign Richards to an extension at, or even slightly below his current $7.8 salary, whether or not Hicks would pony up the money to do this is a mystery in itself.

This does leave Richards in a precarious position to be sure, but, if the Stars are to remain competitive, something  that will be a huge selling point to a prospective owner, they need Richards on the team in a bad way. 

Ultimately, even if his long-term future isn't in Big D, he's a huge part of their short-term success and trading that away, and possibly pulling the plug on their season, seems to be a highly unlikely move at this point.

Third, if the Stars did move Richards, they wouldn't be looking to take on any significant salary in return.

So, when looking at the Leafs as a possible trade partner, one wonders who and what they will trade to acquire Richards.

It won't be long-discussed trade-bait Tomas Kaberle, who has a no-trade clause and has stated he would only waive it to go to an Eastern Conference team.

And, even if he were willing to go to Dallas, acquiring a defenseman to replace a top-scoring forward and, more importantly, taking on $4.25 million in salary isn't an attractive option for a cash-strapped team up for sale.

Additionally, with the Leafs struggling for wins and offense, shipping of anyone of their more talented forwards isn't likely to be a move GM Brian Burke would make.

So, that leaves draft picks and prospects as the most likely asking price for Richards.

Draft picks and prospects, two things the Leafs have divested themselves of so routinely over the past few seasons that doing so yet again would be beyond foolish...even for the Maple Leafs.

Finally, we have to consider the team involved in this rumor in the first place.

Honestly, has there been any player, either on the trade block or entering free-agency that hasn't been linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Last season, many pundits would have you believe that Ilya Kovalchuk was all but set to go to TO at the trade-dealine.  Instead, he went to New Jersey.

Over the summer, Kovalchuk, Dan Hamhuis and Paul Kariya were all considered "Toronto-bound" at some point - they never got there.

Keeping track of which players are rumored to become Toronto Maple Leafs is harder than figuring out which NFL star Kim Kardashian is currently sleeping with (and that's pretty damn hard).

At the end of the day, there's no reason to think that these "Richards to Toronto" rumors are any stronger or more likely than any number of other high profile players linked to the Maple Leafs over the past few seasons.

Could the Leafs acquire Richards at some point this season, or over the summer?

Of course they could.  But talking about it happening, at least at this point, seems to be more a result of speculation and wishful thinking run rampant than a real, impending, transaction.

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