Tortorella would like to get a No. 1 center

Brad Richards, the playmaking Stars center who scored 91 points last season and played on coach John Tortorella's Stanley Cup champion Lightning team, will be a free agent next summer. Tortorella cannot name names (tampering), but it is clear that a No. 1 center remains on his radar.

"We had a good summer because we kept our kids, we stayed with them . . . The foundation of our team is our youth," Tortorella said Sunday.

"I think along the way, when it's right, there are some positions we need to fill. We do need a top center as we go through here and . . . on the back end, maybe a lefthand shot, as you go through. But to give you a timetable, it's hard, and I don't even think it's right for me; that's an organizational thing. But I like the track we're on as a club. We continue to build and add a piece here and there."

If they are in playoff contention, the Stars might not want to move Richards (who has a no-trade clause) at the February trade deadline. The Rangers would need to create cap space and give up some assets - probably a regular player, a top prospect and a draft pick - in a trade. Or they could make a run at Richards for next season while continuing with a "center-by-committee" system, especially with Chris Drury and Vinny Prospal due back in a few weeks.

No Michalek penalty

Tortorella did not think Milan Michalek, who chased and pushed down Marian Gaborik from behind on a breakaway, was guilty of an infraction. "I thought so at first,'' he said, "but when I looked on tape, he didn't really shove him hard and got his stick after."

Derek Boogaard didn't play in the second and played 52 seconds in the third. Said Tortorella, "He didn't do anything wrong."