BUFFALO – Barry Trotz initially figured Mike Richards would make his Washington Capitals debut against Anaheim, two weeks after his first practice with the team. But after Richards shook off the initial rust quickly, Trotz moved up the date to the Capitals’ game at Columbus on Tuesday. The more he watched Richards in practice, the more he realized he didn’t want to wait even that long.
“I saw him this week, the other day, and I said, ‘Let’s move that up even more. Are you ready for that?'” Trotz said. “He said, ‘Yeah.'”
Richards will make his Capitals debut against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, centering a fourth line of Zach Sill as the left winger and Michael Latta as the right winger.