Newsflash, Brad Richards will not be returning to the Dallas Stars. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, it's time for to look at guys that could replace Richards. The draft is always a nice place to find future centers, but the emphasis is on the future. With the 14th pick, Dallas won't be getting an amazing, NHL-ready center prospect unless someone seriously starts dropping in the draft. I took a look at potential draft targets for the Stars in an earlier post.

Unfortunately for the Stars, they don't have a good pick of center prospects in their minor league affiliates. There are plenty of talented wingers and defensemen that are ready to help the team at the NHL level, some of which was seen last year in Tomas Vincour and Philip Larsen, but centers are another story. As a result, the replacement for Brad Richards will most likely come from free agency (although it's a really weak class) so here's a quick look at some of the top centers in this year's free agent class.

Reports from TSN's Bob McKenzie has been confirmed that Brad Richards will not be returning to the Dallas Stars and well, you can't say that the news is too surprising. Ever since the Tom Hicks ownership fell into an abyss, the Richards contract has been a hot topic around the NHL and the likelyhood that he would be returning has been steadily dropping as the season went on.

He's made it known that he would not re-sign with the Stars if their ownership did not stabilize and two months after the final game of the season, it's still not clear who will take over the team. Richards went through a similar situation in Tampa Bay when their team went through a stretch when their ownership was in shambles and they traded away core players from a championship team.

A tweet from ESPN Dallas' @andrewsdsp

Just talked to GM Joe on the @TSNBobMcKenzie report. No point in making offer to Brad Richards because of the ownership issue.

The Tom Hicks effect has crippled and continues to damage the teams ability to make moves and sign contracts and the ownership issue does not look like it will be solved for another month. It sucks that absolutely nothing can be done, not even an offer can be made to Richards.

At this point, all Dallas can do is trade away his free agent negotiating rights to another team that wants him. Whether it be for picks or players is unknown, but at this point the Stars are just hoping to get something in return for Richards.

Now that all this is officially public knowledge, Dallas loses leverage in any trade talks and they can only hope that a bidding war occurs between two or more teams. If draft picks for this year are what they want, they have three weeks to get a deal done.

With Richards leaving, there will be a huge hole to fill. Who knows whether that is to come from free agency, the draft or current prospects but at this point, I would expect Dallas to look for a center in the first round this year.

Here we are, June 1, the first day of the Stanley Cup Finals and we're here today talking ... NHL draft? That's right, for the Dallas Stars there is, once again, no chance to lift the Cup this year. The owner is still unknown, it's still questionable how active the Stars will be in free agency and who knows how the Brad Richards sweepstakes will turn out. What we do know is that there will be a draft this year and the Stars currently have their hands on the 14th pick.

The NHL Draft will occur this year on June 24-25 in Minnesota, the first time it has been there since the Stars moved to Dallas. With the NHL scouting combine going on this week, mock drafts are starting to fine tune their selections. Taking a look at some mock drafts around the country, the Stars pick comes down to two positions, defenseman or center. A defenseman would be sorely needed on this team for obvious reasons while a playmaking center would be needed for the likely case that Richards leaves the team in free agency or has his free agent rights traded for more draft picks.

Dallas has seven picks in this year's draft, one in each round, but they will have to trade over either their second or their third round pick over to the New Jersey Devils. If the Stars re-sign Jamie Langenbrunner before the draft, New Jersey will receive the second rounder. If they don't re-sign him, the Devils will still get Dallas' third rounder this year.

• Round 1 pick 14
• Round 2 pick 44 (14th pick in 2nd round)
• Round 3 pick 75 (13th pick in 3rd round, New Jersey has pick 69 but will have to forfeit it)
• Round 4 pick 105 (14th pick in 4th round)
• Round 5 pick 135 (14th pick in 5th round)
• Round 6 pick 165 (14th pick in 6th round)
• Round 7 pick 195 (14th pick in 7th round)

With all that said, here's a look at a few mocks and some other prospects that the Stars should be targeting.

There was an article yesterday in the New York Post where Larry Brooks basically tells the Dallas Stars what they should do with Brad Richards.  Brooks has written about ways the New York Rangers could acquire since last October so take this with a grain of salt.

Brooks says that the Stars should trade the rights to negotiate with Richards to the Rangers for a second-round pick (number 57 in his mind) or else Dallas will get nothing when Richards leaves. 

Kari Lehtonen #32 G

• 27 years old. Will be entering his eighth season of NHL play next year.
• 2 years left on his contract. Restricted free agent in the 2013-2014 season.
• Will make $3.55 million next season.

Poor Kari Lehtonen found himself as the target of a shooting gallery the entire season. Playing in front of a defense that looked lost at times and was rotating players weekly, Lehtonen performed admirably for much of the season.

Adam Burish #16 RW

• 28 years old. Will be entering his sixth season of NHL play next year.
• 1 year left on his contract. Restricted free agent in the 2012-2013 season.
• Will make $1.15 million next season.

The Adam Burish effect on the Dallas Stars is, in a word, perplexing. Even though he had peak numbers in many of his offensive stats, he didn't exactly score a lot of goals or garner a lot of assists. And yet, there could be a case made that Burish was one of the most important players on the team.

Mark Fistric #28 D

• 24 years old. Will be entering his fourth season of NHL play next year.
• 1 year left on his contract. Restricted free agent in the 2012-2013 season.
• Will make $1 million next season.

Mark Fistric hasn't quite lived up to his expectations since being drafted in the first round in 2004 and this year was more of the same, although it might not be entirely his fault. Fistric is out there to do one thing, hit people and be a physical presence out on the ice. 

Jamie Benn #14 LW

• 21 years old. Will be entering his third season of NHL play next year.
• 1 year left on his contract. Restricted free agent in the 2012-2013 season.
• Will make $821,667 next season.

After watching the Stars this season, it's become obvious that the future of this team will rest on the shoulders of Jamie Benn. The 21-year-old was drafted two years ago in the 5th round of the NHL draft, and quickly became one of the best prospects in the organization.

Tom Wandell #23 C

• 24 years old. Will be entering his fourth season of NHL play next year.
• 1 year left on his contract. Restricted free agent in the 2012-2013 season.
• Will make $775,000 next season.

Tom Wandell did this year what a third/fourth line player is supposed to do; get on the ice and play hard during your limited time on the ice. He's not someone who is expected to score goals, only check hard and win puck battles. Through team injuries and other circumstances, Wandell found himself playing more than expected during the year. Before the injury bug hit the team in latter half of the season, Wandell's minutes flucuated and he played anywhere from six minutes to fifteen minutes a game.

• 27 years old
• 6 years left on his contract. Unrestricted free agent in the 2017-2018 season.
• Will make $3.3 million next season.

In a disappointing season (at the end at least), one of the brightest spots was the play of Trevor Daley. Due to a combination of injuries and lack of roster depth, Daley was thrust into the top pair of the defense for much of the season. He responded by putting up or tying career highs in goals, assists, points and basically every other offensive category on the board. After Alex Goligoski came to Dallas in a trade, Daley was moved back to the second line, which is where he belongs on this team.