With the Los Angeles Kings placing center Mike Richards, will a rival club claim him? Is this a precursor to a possible trade? Read on for the latest.
Will anyone put in a claim for Mike Richards?
NBC SPORTS: Mike Halford reported yesterday on the reaction to the LA Kings placing center Mike Richards on waivers. The club had an opportunity last summer to employ a compliance buyout (the last opportunity to do so) on Richards but GM Dean Lombardi gambled on the 29-year-old regaining his previously stellar two-way form. Respected Kings blogger John Hoven of Mayors’ Manor claimed the club was working on multiple deals for Richards but the last one fell through over the weekend, prompting them to put the center on waivers (You can read more details of Hoven’s take here). Halford notes the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets were recently linked to Richards in the trade rumor mill, and notes TSN’s Bob McKenzie points out the Kings will get dinged with salary cap recapture penalties if Richards retires before his contract expires.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I recommend checking out Hoven’s blog on the Richards’ situation as he sums up the entire situation very well. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun yesterday tweeted the Leafs wouldn’t make a claim for Richards. No word about the Jets but I doubt they claim him. Too bad CapGeek is now defunct as they had a nice breakdown of how the salary cap recapture penalties would work for Richards. Fortunately, I did a brief breakdown of that scenario back in November.
TSN.CA: Scott Cullen notes there’s no easy fix cap-wise or statistically for the Kings with Richards, whose performance has eroded in recent years. Cullen suggests the Kings try swapping Richards for another player with a toxic contract and suggests several scenarios involving the Flames (for Mason Raymond and Matt Stajan), Carolina (for Alexander Semin), Philadelphia (for Vincent Lecavalier or Andrew MacDonald), Toronto (for David Clarkson) or Winnipeg (for Ondrej Pavelec and Grant Clitsome). He also suggests offering Richards to Edmonton for a late-round pick whilst retaining part of the center’s salary.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Of Cullen’s suggestions the only one which makes sense for the Kings is the Oilers scenario, though I doubt they will have much interest in Richards even if the Kings picked up part of his salary. The reason why the Kings want to move out Richards is they must shed salary for the remainder of this season if they hope to bolster their lineup before the trade deadline. They’ve also got limited cap space this summer and must re-sign Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson and Justin Williams this summer, plus Anze Kopitar is eligible in 2016 for UFA status and could command over $10 million per season. It makes no sense for them to swap toxic contracts with another team.
SPORTSNET: Mike Johnston lists the Nashville Predators, Ottawa Senators, Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers as five clubs who should consider making a claim for Richards. He also cites colleague John Shannon claiming via Twitter the Calgary Flames don’t intend to put in a claim for the Kings center.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: No NHL GM worth his salt should put in a claim for Mike Richards. I’m sorry, but Richards isn’t the player he used to be. His supporters try to say Richards isn’t getting a fair shot with the Kings, but that’s making the assumption that head coach Darryl Sutter has suddenly become incredibly stupid or has a grudge against Richards. The simple fact is Richards, who’ll turn 30 on Feb. 11, is clearly past his prime and has been for a couple of years now. Kings GM Dean Lombardi gambled on him last summer, hoping he’d regain his form this season if he improved his offseason conditioning. While every account I’ve read claims Richards did what was requested of him, it did nothing to improve his game. Richards played a strong two-way game for years, but that style takes its toll. His big contract also doesn’t help. I’ll be shocked if any team claims Richards off waivers and takes on that big, lengthy contract.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Bruce McCurdy doesn’t believe the Oilers should make a claim for Richards. He also cites Sportsnet’s John Shannon who reports via Twitter the Oilers aren’t interested in Richards.
THE SPORTING NEWS: Ben Valentine believes it would be a mistake for any team to claim Richards, citing his declining production and expensive contract.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s possible this move could also be a precursor to a trade. We’ve seen in the recent past where a player who clears waivers ends up traded days or weeks later. Still, the only way I see the Kings trading Richards is if they agree to pick up a healthy chunk of his contract. Even then, finding takers will be difficult. They could try to swap toxic contracts with another team, but as I noted earlier, that doesn’t help the cap-strapped Kings in the short term when they have several key players who must be re-signed.
Hey Spec,
I thought that if a team claimed him they are only paying him half his salary? I read something that it only happened on re-entry waivers, but that was left out of this CBA. Was that the only time two teams would split the cap of the player on waivers? Could you clear that up for me?!
Thank you!
Old CBA…no more re entry waivers.
Wow.. I was just schooled. Good on you Schticky.
That is reentry waivers.
I thought as much, thanks shticky
The recapture thing makes me think they should just buy him out…even with a trade the contract hurts them down the road…Richards doesnt see the end of that contract in the NHL.
Richards and David Clarkson are almost the same age, have similar statistics for the year and have similar contracts yet the same pundits that claim Clarkson’s contract is un-tradable see teams needing Richards. IMO, no GM worth his salt would jeopardize his team’s long term cap health by taking on these toxic contracts for older players with diminishing skills.
I’ll never understand why they didn’t use a compliance buyout to get rid of him in the off season. Brad Richards was a similar ( more productive guy) situation in NY. A move that hurt NY more than it helped at the time of his buyout. It wasn’t about last year or this year, it was about the future of a bad contract.
Actually I take that back just noticed the hit they would take for a couple of those buyout year 2018-2020 (4.2 mill) are doozies. Not quite as buy out proof as Clarksons but almost, should have used a compliance.
See I dunno, I think a few GM’s are calling open owners and asking them about bringing him in and see what they say. Do I think Richards will go on to be some dominate offensive force, no. Do I think he is as bad as his numbers show? No, I don’t. He has never for even one second fit into the Kings system and it has shown, but he is still a guy with a lot of leadership and who has a trend of showing up big in the playoffs. Plus, knowing that you aren’t on the hook for that contract on retirement is a huge plus.
I think it is unlikely that he gets claimed, but I won’t rule it out and I wouldn’t think a GM crazy for taking the risk in the proper situations.
The issue I have with the latest crop of Richards rumours is they almost exclusively involve western teams (other than the Leafs of course, and we all know the Leafs are in on ALL the trade rumours – ridiculous but that is what the media seems to always indicate), what about the Florida Panthers? They have contracts like Fleischman, and Upshall and Kopecky, all very over paid and signed to those deals predominantly to get the Panthers to the cap floor. A Richards for Fleischman deal would give FLA a slight upgrade offensively as well as an historic increase in compete level (a new environment may re-invigerate that in Richards who could be seen as a role model for someone like Huberdeau), plus, a long term, higher than deserved contract to help ensure cap floor compliance (when the cap ceiling goes up, so does the floor). Fleischmann on the 4th line in LA would not save LA a ton of money this year, BUT, he would certainly do a more than serviceable job and is URFA after this season which means freed up cap space for the off-season re-signings of Williams, Pearson and Toffoli (and don’t forget Clifford, Nolan and Jones too).
So I ask you… why not LA to FLA for Mr. Richards?
The biggest difference I see here is Upshall, Kopecky and Fleischman are all UFA’s at the end of the year. If Florida falls apart, they’ll be looking to move those guys. And if they don’t trade them, why not keep them on shorter term contracts rather than hand cuff themselves to Richards for 5 years? Florida seems to finally be on the right track. Taking on Richards is a GIANT step backwards imo.
Swap contracts with flyers for Vinny . Fresh start for both. Id consider moving Richards to the blue line in philly. He has the mentality,skill and hockey IQ to do this. It would prolong his career (assuming he wants this) and get the maximum return out of his considerable remaining talent.
I think if any team could take Richards it would be Buffalo. Sabres could ask LA to take either Torrey Mitchell 1.9 million for balance of this year or Cody McCormick 1.5 million for 2 more seasons after this one. Either way the Sabres should also ask for one of the Kings second round pick. They own two, their own and one from the Leafs I believe. LA should keep the Leaf pick and trade their own. Kings get out from that contract and free up 3.75 to 4.25 million to pick up another contract. Kings can ask for a 3rd or 4th round pick to make the deal palatable to both teams. Sabres have the cap space and they will be unloading Stewart somehow and possibly not resigning Stafford or Kaleta, so may need some help getting to the cap floor. They have a ton of first round draft picks but still will not be contending for another 3 to 4 years, and Richards would be a great mentor along the lines of Gionta (now 36 with 2 years left on deal after this year) and Josh Gorges. Richards could be the veteran to help see them through. When you look at the UFA market for forwards this summer, Richards is as good if not better than most, adding 2 recent Stanley Cups experiences to the room. He would be the only one on that team. Bash away!
Actually the Kings two second round picks are from trades. One is Buffalo’s and one is Toronto’s. The Leafs are fighting for last place so we will see which one is better to give up!
my 2c
If Buffalo did anything like this it should be
Richards, both 2nd rd picks this yr for a 3rd and 4th
Buffalo is doing LA a favour with this trade
Buffalo makes sense since they can absorb the salary IF they get very good draft compensation.
Another option might be the Isle now that Okposo is out. They have plenty of cap space even after re-signing Boychuk. Richards could lead the 3rd line and the Isle could then move pieces around with one of Grabvoski, Lee or Strome up to fill the RW spot with Taveras.
If the Isle were to get similar draft compensation that was earlier suggested for Buffalo (a 2nd rounder) I think that would be a good deal for an Islander team that has a chance to make some noise in the playoffs.
These long contracts signed before the current CBA are bad for the teams and the players. Richards contract lasts for another 5 years. That means sooner or later he will be bought out.
With that in mind why would Calgary, Buffalo or some other rebuilding team with cap space sacrifice their ability to sign the young stars of tomorrow in 3-4 years.
Exactly why I suggested FLA. They are in the playoff hunt NOW. That 2x Stanley cup winning experience could go a long way towards their push this year!
Florida does not have the cap space. I know that seems crazy. But they also have Bolland (another bad contract) on the books for 3 more years. Bjugstads salary jumps up 3.2 million next year to 4.10 per, and Hayes, Huberdeau are RFA’s probably looking at decent bumps in salary. Currently they have around 3.0 million in cap space, They possibly shed 13 for Upshall, Kopecky, Bergenheim and Fleischman. Add back The rfa’s and Bjugstads new deal and it does not leave a lot of room at all for Richards. I watch a LOT of Florida games, I don’t think they have a legitimate chance with or without Richards……So why bother handcuffing themselves to a dead contract?
I was thinking about a Richards for Johan Franzen swap. The Kings save nearly $2MM per year in cap space and get a wild card in return that has a history of playoff success. However, there has been much speculation recently that Franzen will be getting the Chris Pronger treatment soon due to concussion issues. In that case it actually makes more sense for the Wings to keep Franzen since his $3.9MM cap hit can be transferred to LTIR until he retires. Still, I think Richards would be a nice fit either on the wing or at centre for the Wings.
It looks as if LA may be forced to buy Mike Richards out.
Here is something of how it will look: (Calculation is based on the facts as best as I can put them together.)
2015-16 Cap hit: $1.21 Million Savings: $4.54 Million
2016-17 Cap hit: $1.81 Million Savings: $3.94 Million
2017-18 Cap hit: $2.81 Million Savings: $2.94 Million
2018-19 Cap hit: $3.31 Million Savings: $2.44 Million
2019-20 Cap hit: $4.31 Million Savings: $1.44 Million
Short term the savings on the cap hit are significant and would allow the Kings the ability to sign the players they need to.
The question the Kings brass has to ask it self is how much do they think the CAP will go up by year over year. Is it going to be like this year and have a nominal increase (if any at all) or will it be like years passed?
If Richards does not get moved by June 15 I say Richards will be bought out with hope that the leagues growth will continue after this year.
Does it cost the Kings more or less if a team claims Richards on re-entry versus the summer buyout?
If Richards retirees before the end of his contact even if he is playing for another team it would cost LA 4 mil a season. So the risk might even be greater if he is traded.