Mark Richardson: GB defenceman signs up for 16th season as Cardiff Devil
- Published
Last season Mark Richardson scored 4 goals and 13 assists for Cardiff in 72 all competition games
Mark Richardson has re-signed for Cardiff Devils and will play his 16th season for the Elite League club in 2023-24.
Great Britain defenceman Richardson, 36, first played for Cardiff in 2009 at the age of 19.
Richardson played his 1,000th Elite League game last season, only the third player to reach the milestone.
"Mark is still one of, if not the best British defenceman in the league," said head coach Pete Russell.
"He is so good defensively, a great shot blocker, reads the game so well and knows when to jump into the play. He moves the puck well and has great poise.
"Mark is a true professional and keeps himself in great shape, which is why he continues to be able to play to such high levels and can play so many minutes."
Richardson's career began as a forward but was converted to the blue line during a spell away from Cardiff at Nottingham Panthers.
He has also had stints with Basingstoke Bison, Arlan Kokshetau in Kazakhstan and German DEL2 side Bad Nauheim.
In April and May he was a key member of the Great Britain side, coached by Russell, who won all five of their World Championship Division I Group A matches to regain promotion to the top level of the sport for 2024.
Scotsman Russell was appointed Devils coach following that success and has since re-signed Joey Martin and recruited Canadian forward Jamie Arniel before confirming a new contract with long-serving Richardson.
"He has played for me with Team GB since U18, knows me as a person, my coaching style and the system we want to play," added Russell.
"Mark was a big reason why I wanted to come to Cardiff. He has spoken highly about the organisation for the last number of years."