Lombardi says they will NOT be buying out Richards

[regulate]

Most obvious thread ever.

 

[bmr]

Once they won the cup, I knew it wouldn't happen, but if they had failed, I would not have put it past DL to make that difficult decision considering it was the freebie.

The best GMs are able to set aside the emotions, especially on a player that is having a bad year. Richards and Brown definitely had off years in the regular season - no one is questioning that. However, you have to look at the leadership qualities and the intangibles they bring to this team. A guy like Richards doesn't grow on trees. I don't think he's going to turn into Scott Gomez either, especially not at 29. I think he will bounce back next year and really assert himself. That guy's whole game is predicated on how good of shape he is in. I don't know anyone in the league better than him at snatching the puck away from players - Datsyuk is pretty good at it too, but Richards always seems to be in the head of his opponent as far as where they are going with the puck.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Crazy proclamation: Put Richards with Williams on a third scoring line and have him center the 2nd PP unit and watch him post 55-60+ points this season (barring any injuries).

Richards will not start the season on the fourth line.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Richards playing between King and Williams seems like the only obvious solution. I don't see how you justify splitting up 70s when Toffoli and Pearson are in a perfect position to learn and the line is absolutely dynamite on the ice to boot.

If Richards plays to potential with Williams on his wing then Stoll is probably the odd man out in 2015.

It's very encouraging that Richards realized how bad he was down the stretch and is (seemingly) committing himself to a brand new training regiment over the summer. He could potentially return to form to the tune of second line duties with Carter again if all goes as planned.

Lombardi made the right decision in keeping him, Cup or no Cup, IMO.

 

[damacles1156]

Stoll/Richards are not odd men out till a Manchester player pushes the issue.

Right now the only kid down there looking like a threat is Shore, everyone else is a fringe bottom six roster player.

Vey is not even a good center, I am starting to think he has no future with the Kings, by in large the Kings don't want him playing wing (which is what he is best at , skill set wise).

Vey would be a much better winger on the Kings bottom six roster.

 

[Reclamation Project]

If Richards can return to a 55-60 point form, the Kings have the deepest forward depth in the league AINEC. He rebounds next year hard and I see the Kings seriously contending for a second straight Cup.

 

[HYORI 1963]

I still say I 'd like to see Richards as our 3LW, replacing King.

Richards-Stoll-Williams.

 

[GKJ]

They're going to have to find a way to make him a left winger, because a $5M 4th liner won't fly

 

[Reclamation Project]

I still say I 'd like to see Richards as our 3LW, replacing King.

Richards-Stoll-Williams.

Love it.

 

[damacles1156]

You guys are assuming that Toffoli/Pearson don't struggle next season, which they will.

Richards is going to be used all over the lineup probably. If he gets back to form and in shape, it will Richards/Carter on the same line.

Sutter is not going to have Carter center unless the Kids are playing well(my opinion).

 

[Ollie Weeks]

King - Richards(revived) - Williams would be pretty nice to throw out there for 15 a night.

 

[Chain]

I think they can be rooted in that. If you are out of shape, you are likely going to play bad and lack confidence. When you are slow and lack confidence, you'll make bad passes or poor decisions because you can buy yourself room. Long story short, I think being out of shape compounds the problem. That sounded like one of those directv commercials.

Ya, conditioning can absolutely contribute to mental mistakes because, in addition to what you said, you tend to make more mistakes when you're tired. Still, I don't think they are all attributed to it, especially for someone who's a veteran. I listed the shootout as an example. My sister and I actually have a running joke about Richards in shootouts this year, if Richards is in the shootout line-up she knows I'm swearing at the TV screen somewhere. lol This season the guy literally looks like he has no clue what to do in that situation.

I have trouble respecting a pro athlete in this day and age who doesn't come to play in top shape. Hockey skills obviously trump strength & conditioning but if I were paying a guy $5 million a year, I expect him to prepare his body accordingly. I don't think that's too much to ask when there are lots of guys in special forces risking their butts and in great shape for 1% of that money. Like the great MMA fighter Bas Rutten said, conditioning is an unacceptable excuse for a pro athlete to not perform at their peak. DL is obviously a little more forgiving and it's their money to spend so what do I know.

 

[goosh]

Love the way DL handled this situation.

Mike Richards doesn't deserve a buyout, but at the same time, his level of play over the last couple years is far from acceptable given expectations. Give him a vote of confidence, but let him know he needs to get his head out of his ass and train like a pro to be ready for the next season. He's a smaller guy and takes a beating, but he's 29 -- no excuse to fall off a cliff.

IMO, if Richards has a subpar year next year, he'll get traded.

 

[damacles1156]

Been saying it all year, He was out of shape. That combined with declining skills is a killer for an athlete. Your body changes the closer you get to 30.

You can't do the same program anymore. It should be no surprise that he was dynamite to start the season, but once the season hit that grind stage (December) it was all down hill.

 

[HYORI 1963]

IMO, if Richards has a subpar year next year, he'll get traded.

It really depends. You have to realize, if Richards has a down year next year, his trade value will be very low. I don't see Lombardi just giving Richards away. If he can get a decent return, yeah, then I can see a trade going down.

 

[damacles1156]

If he has another down year, he will be bought out, and the Kings will just take the reduced cap hit.

No team is going to take that contract free and clear, they would require the Kings to take a similar contract back, or retain salary.

No point in doing any of that, just buy him out, and take the 20% hit. You can still buy players out, it's just not a complete free and clear buy out.

Don't mention a team like Florida, the owner bought that team to squeeze money out of it. He has no intention of spending to the cap.

Florida's owner has already cut staff, and imposed an internal budget on the GM.

 

[Chain]

If he was out of shape going in, how was it that he was almost at a ppg in the first couple of months? You'd think that a player would get into better shape as he went along. I am kind of puzzled by all this because you'd think he would have gotten up to speed after a month or so if he came into camp in bad shape. He was exactly the opposite.

I hope they are careful with whatever workout plan they have for him. He isn't very fast so bulking up will cause problems with footspeed. Hopefully someone like Gary Roberts can set something up for him so he can improve in the right way. I remember Danny Briere saying once that he was better at his end of season weight than at his early season weight so he purposely started the following season at the lower weight.

I don't want to wish summer away but I can't wait for the season to start!

They can definitely improve his strength & conditioning without bulking him up, though some bulk can be fine too if obtained properly. A lot of strength gains are obtained through improved neural performance so it's not necessary to bulk up. It's just a matter of if their coach designs a good plan and how committed Richards is to following it. Hopefully Van Asten can lock Richards in the gym.

 

[go4hockey]

You'd be surprised.

Yea half the idiots east of the Mississippi were sure he would be bought out. But then again half those people seem to think the Kings have cap problems.

 

[etherialone]

lisa dillman @reallisa
Breaking news ... OK, not really. But Kings will NOT be buying out the contract of center Mike Richards, according to Dean Lombardi.

What's sad is that the guy had to actually come out officially and make such a statement.

 

[HYORI 1963]

What's sad is that the guy had to actually come out officially and make such a statement.

Well, Lombardi knows that's the only way to shut herby up.

 

[GKJ]

What's sad is that the guy had to actually come out officially and make such a statement.

Not necessarily. He's not being bought out. He could be just trying to get Dave Nonis to throw in an extra 1st round pick since Richards is a great competitor who is a great winner and has leadership experience.

 

[damacles1156]

Not necessarily. He's not being bought out. He could be just trying to get Dave Nonis to throw in an extra 1st round pick since Richards is a great competitor who is a great winner and has leadership experience.

Toronto is not going to take that contract, Rumors are they are already trying to unload Dion and Bolland.

Bolland in my opinion is a cheaper Richards. Gone are the days of teams taking bad contracts in trades free and clear guys.

Owner's are not going to ok those trades anymore, unless salary is retained or a bad contract is being swapped.

 

[etherialone]

Not necessarily. He's not being bought out. He could be just trying to get Dave Nonis to throw in an extra 1st round pick since Richards is a great competitor who is a great winner and has leadership experience.

I think you may be taking my position differently than intended. What I am saying is that it is sad that DL actually felt the need to make any statement at all on the matter. As to driving up the price I guess maybe but I don't think that would be necessary. If DL wanted to move MR he would be able to get whatever he was looking for out of the move.

Not that it has any chance of actually happening in my opinion but I suppose you can always go with the never say never bit of wisdom too.

 

[Trolfoli]

So much negativity in this thread.... I'm going to go out on a limb and bet on a proven winner to double down on his dedication to hockey this summer and get back to his old winning self.

As far as going forward Richards hasn't worked well with Williams in the past. I don't not expect that combo to work in the future.

Gabork/Kopitar/(Carter,Toffoli)
Pearson/Richards/(Carter,Toffoli)
Brown/Stoll/Williams
Kings/*****/Lewis

With *** being Vey/Shore/Weal/Prokhorkin(if he makes it out of mother Russia)

Edit: Just realized King/****/Lewis with Kopitar was the first line for part of the season last year...

 

[KingCanadain1976]

It really depends. You have to realize, if Richards has a down year next year, his trade value will be very low. I don't see Lombardi just giving Richards away. If he can get a decent return, yeah, then I can see a trade going down.

I disagree if he has a bad year there still would be teams looking at his cap hit to reach the cap floor as he helps teach young players. His salary drops before his cap hit and that would be attractive.