Do it! Buy him out at 1/3 if possible. Bad trade. Terrible signing without him playing a single game. Normally it would all be a fire-able offense, but if Bluc did it, it'd give them a hard pass. Do it!!! 
Dubois
- Thread starter Schmooley
- Start date
Over a 26 game run, there are going to be moments for everyone. Had the Kings made a run this year there would have been moments for any of the whipping boys (PLD, Lewis, Lizotte etc.), but overall it was bad. Every single person that MR played with that season saw their GA/60 go up and their GF/60 go down playing with him vs. levels they were with any other teammate, that is a sign of a player who just can no longer play at that level and is dragging down teammates. It effected Carter's offense and just destroyed Clifford and Lewis where that line looked like an AHL line when they played together. I hated how Clifford was often overused, but he was a very good fourth liner, as was Lewis, but they were towing an anchor those playoffs, and it showed in their metrics.
The expectation from the entire hockey world was the Kings were going to write him a big check to go away, that didn't happen, but a couple of months later he was in the minors. There is no way he was fine in those playoffs and a couple of months later was being paid $6m to play in the AHL.
I don't think anyone is trying to minimize the huge mistakes made by Blake. There are only about 2-3 people on this forum still standing strong with Blake, and maybe 2-3 more who aren't completely off the wagon, everyone else wants to see Blake hit the unemployment line.
But it's a comparable situation, you have a player still in his prime, owed a boatload of money for a long time coming off a season where he was pitiful on the ice, levels nowhere close to where they had performed for their entire careers. 10 years ago a very poor decision was made to not buyout MR, a decision that the Kings are still paying for to this day. If PLD is going down the same path, where he is an AHL caliber player going forward, it would be a huge mistake to not buy him out, but if he returns to previous levels (he's still slightly overpaid) but it would be a huge mistake to give away a 2C for nothing and take on huge cap penalties down the road. That is what the Kings have to/had to weigh before making this decision.
My belief is that no buyout is even being considered. Blake knows he's up against it (although we all stupidly thought this last year), if it's worst case scenario and PLD goes from 2014 Richards to 2015 Richards and is an AHL player this season, it very likely means that Blake is fired, and the huge PLD disaster is passed on to the next GM. Blake is going to gamble that he returns to previous levels, because that is probably the only way Blake saves his job.
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Lt Dan
F*** your ice cream!
- May 9, 2014
- 5,203
- 7,206
Completely agree. A buyout is effectively game over for Blake. He will stand or fall based on PLD.
Man how depressing is it that a defensively mediocre $8.5 million power play merchant hitting the 60 point mark will not only be considered a win but a big enough win for Blake to keep his job.
tigermask48
Maniacal Laugh
That's the reality of this situation though. The Kings are stuck in the black hole for the foreseeable future. They just don't have the assets to make any big trades, and they don't have the cap space to compete with the other big guns in the league.
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johnjm22
Pseudo Intellectual
- Aug 2, 2005
- 20,161
- 16,020
No, I believe the Kings needed a second line center in order to contend.
I did say Simmonds was probably a better offensive player than Richards at the time of the trade, and because the Kings needed scoring so bad, losing Wayne cancelled out a significant portion of what Mike brought in. That's part of the reason the team didn't improve after the trade.
I appreciate your concern for my well being. I knew I shouldn't have clicked "post reply" but I gave into the temptation to troll. I'll have to bring this up in my next therapy session.
Winning hockey games.
Whether he did or didn't, players would give the same answer. It means nothing, and there'd be no way of knowing anyways.
Richards and Williams did do a great job of inspiring the Capitals to their Stanley Cup victory in 15/16. You got me there.
johnjm22
Pseudo Intellectual
- Aug 2, 2005
- 20,161
- 16,020
Guess what player had the worst plus / minus on the entire team?
2014 Playoffs:
| Player | +/- |
| Justin Williams | 13 |
| Tanner Pearson | 10 |
| Willie Mitchell | 10 |
| Anže Kopitar | 9 |
| Dustin Brown | 7 |
| Marián Gáborík | 6 |
| Tyler Toffoli | 6 |
| Jake Muzzin | 6 |
| Jarret Stoll | 6 |
| Jeff Carter | 5 |
| Dwight King | 5 |
| Matt Greene | 5 |
| Slava Voynov | 4 |
| Drew Doughty | 2 |
| Alec Martinez | 1 |
| Robyn Regehr | 0 |
| Jeff Schultz | -1 |
| Kyle Clifford | -2 |
| Jordan Nolan | -3 |
| Trevor Lewis | -6 |
| Mike Richards | -6 |
- May 9, 2014
- 5,203
- 7,206
Well, hopefully it’s not the only consideration but if PLD does what he did this season he will be in trouble.
- May 9, 2014
- 5,203
- 7,206
I’d agree Richards was a shadow of his best self by 2014 but +/- in this context proves nothing. The name above his proves that, with the defensively excellent Lewis also -6.
SettlementRichie10
Registered User
- May 6, 2012
- 10,133
- 8,203
+/- is not the only metric that showed a replacement level player. Every single person who played that year with Richards saw their GA/60 get significantly worse, as well as their offensive numbers. Any player Richards played with possessed the puck less and spent more time in the defensive zone than they did with other players. We all agree that Lewis was a solid defensive player before and after that, the reason his +/- was tied for worst on the team was simply because he spent more time with Richards in those playoffs than anyone else did.
I don't agree with the original position at all...but to answer your question...pretty much everything. They were out of the playoffs at that point in the season and went from an 84 point pace to a 102 point pace. They were the 3rd highest scoring team in the league after Sutter took over after not being able to score more than 2 goals a game up to that point. Sutter got them to play better and Carter couldn't have been a better fit for the team at that particular point in time. That's not a coincidence.
did richards go to rehab?
did he move to columbia?
did he start an import/export business with stoll?
i heard he's consulting for the kings front office.
did he move to columbia?
did he start an import/export business with stoll?
i heard he's consulting for the kings front office.
Lt Dan
F*** your ice cream!
2012 Richard and 2014 Richards were completely different players . Richard was never the same after that hit in the 2013 playoffs. i am pretty sure it was Bolland
Lt Dan
F*** your ice cream!
johnjm22
Pseudo Intellectual
- Aug 2, 2005
- 20,161
- 16,020
Ziggy Stardust
Master Debater
Ziggy Stardust
Master Debater
AbsentMojo
F-ing get up and hunt! Cmon Todd!
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