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Mike Richards III (Cleared waivers 1/27/15)

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Herby said:
There are two sides to a hockey rink.

Trevor Lewis is worlds better defensively than Mike Richards. I don't know why people are bringing up points, MR is not in the AHL only because his offense dried up, he has been by far the worst defensive player at ES on the Kings the last three seasons and it's not even close.

Mike Richards this season is a sub 30 point forward who can't play a lick of defense and has no physical game, and people (MR included) are surprised he is in Manchester?
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The fact that Richards said he was surprised was the one thing that caught my eye. That tells me there is an ego problem here, something you see in other sports all the time but in hockey we're lucky we don't have to deal with it all that much. If Richards didn't know he was playing poorly then his career is over. That's some serous denial that everything you have been doing the last few years on and off the ice has not been working and evidently Richards was OK with that and will get on a boat and fish again this summer. The dude has his entire life to fish after his career is over, get your ass in the gym, hire a trainer year round, hire a chef year round, write it off and get your career back on track. This was a wake up call and Richards acted like he wasn't asleep. There is no tomorrow!
 
kingsfan said:
Another successful avoidance of several questions sent your way. Kudos. And you wonder why no one takes you seriously. :handclap:
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Johnny didn't like the trade in the first place because Simmonds was going the other way. I don't think that there are many here that would agree with him on that point as Richards did set the tone in the 1st game of the 1st round Vancouver series that started the 2012 run to the cup.

To be fair though, he did say that Richards was a player that didn't have much gas left in the tank when he was acquired, and he was right.

It's a hard line to draw with the players for Dean. He wants their loyalty, and to get it he needs to show them some loyalty and let them battle their way back when their performance is subpar. We have seen that with Stoll and the changing of Stoll's role. Stoll fought through some pretty debilitating physical problems and became the perfect fit as the #3 center, but one of the reasons he was able to do that is his dedication to his off season program. Dean knew that Richards was not as dedicated and should have made his decision accordingly.

Richards wasn't the only thing to consider in that decision. There are 22 other guys busting their ass trying to win as many cups as they can in a short career. In a salary cap league everything matters. Sometimes you just gotta cut a man loose.
 
KINGS17 said:
Johnny didn't like the trade in the first place because Simmonds was going the other way. I don't think that there are many here that would agree with him on that point as Richards did set the tone in the 1st game of the 1st round Vancouver series that started the 2012 run to the cup.

To be fair though, he did say that Richards was a player that didn't have much gas left in the tank when he was acquired, and he was right.

It's a hard line to draw with the players for Dean. He wants their loyalty, and to get it he needs to show them some loyalty and let them battle their way back when their performance is subpar. We have seen that with Stoll and the changing of Stoll's role. Stoll fought through some pretty debilitating physical problems and became the perfect fit as the #3 center, but one of the reasons he was able to do that is his dedication to his off season program. Dean knew that Richards was not as dedicated and should have made his decision accordingly.

Richards wasn't the only thing to consider in that decision. There are 22 other guys busting their ass trying to win as many cups as they can in a short career. In a salary cap league everything matters. Sometimes you just gotta cut a man loose.
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You're right on that. Still, I think that it's not so clean cut. The guys in the Kings locker room are obviously close and I think they'd like to keep this crew together as best they can, so I don't think they were thinking "Man, Richards is getting paid a ton and not getting it done. I wish they'd trade him." At the time Dean had to make the decision, I felt that keeping Richards was a mistake and, by and large, it was a mistake. But I also think that it wasn't a mistake. I'm sure that doesn't make sense. :laugh:

What I mean is that Dean wants that 2-way street of loyalty and when he kept Richards, he showed it. No one in the locker room can go "Geez man, Dean didn't even give Richie a chance to get back." So keeping Richards was probably a mistake as far as Richards and his contract goes, but I think the message of loyalty is going to resonate with some other players and that may payoff in the long run (or already has since we've got 2 cups with Dean). I'm actually proud we have a GM that doesn't just look at the numbers, and I think some players are more willing to sign on for a little less to have a GM like that. Who doesn't want a boss with that kind of attitude? Hopefully I'm not wrong.

Now if only Richards can rediscover his game and play about like he did at the start of last season.
 
The good news is this shows the rest of the dressing room that two cups and a big salary don't mean anything if you aren't producing.

The bad news is it's a mid season distraction that has obviously effected the room. Lombardi could have done it in the summer and it would have gone a little easier.
 
Chain said:
You're right on that. Still, I think that it's not so clean cut. The guys in the Kings locker room are obviously close and I think they'd like to keep this crew together as best they can, so I don't think they were thinking "Man, Richards is getting paid a ton and not getting it done. I wish they'd trade him." At the time Dean had to make the decision, I felt that keeping Richards was a mistake and, by and large, it was a mistake. But I also think that it wasn't a mistake. I'm sure that doesn't make sense. :laugh:

What I mean is that Dean wants that 2-way street of loyalty and when he kept Richards, he showed it. No one in the locker room can go "Geez man, Dean didn't even give Richie a chance to get back." So keeping Richards was probably a mistake as far as Richards and his contract goes, but I think the message of loyalty is going to resonate with some other players and that may payoff in the long run (or already has since we've got 2 cups with Dean). I'm actually proud we have a GM that doesn't just look at the numbers, and I think some players are more willing to sign on for a little less to have a GM like that. Who doesn't want a boss with that kind of attitude? Hopefully I'm not wrong.

Now if only Richards can rediscover his game and play about like he did at the start of last season.
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For the most part, I am on board with this post. The guys in the room had better remember that the kind of loyalty Dean showed to Richards costs everyone, and is one of the reasons that some of them will be taking a tiny bit of a haircut on their next deal. As long as everyone is on board with that concept, I'm fine with it.

I just don't want to hear any BS, not just from the players, but from their agents as well, about their guy's salary not quite measuring up to what they feel are comparables around the league. It's a salary cap league. You want to be treated as if you are part of a family, then that costs everyone a little money.
 
KINGS17 said:
For the most part, I am on board with this post. The guys in the room had better remember that the kind of loyalty Dean showed to Richards costs everyone, and is one of the reasons that some of them will be taking a tiny bit of a haircut on their next deal. As long as everyone is on board with that concept, I'm fine with it.

I just don't want to hear any BS, not just from the players, but from their agents as well, about their guy's salary not quite measuring up to what they feel are comparables around the league. It's a salary cap league. You want to be treated as if you are part of a family, then that costs everyone a little money.
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If anyone ruins that concept it'll probably be the agents. And maybe the wives. :laugh:
 
Chain said:
If anyone ruins that concept it'll probably be the agents. And maybe the wives. :laugh:
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The players have 100% control over their agents. Most of us with experience know the other issue is a total crap shoot. :)
 
Johnny Utah said:
The good news is this shows the rest of the dressing room that two cups and a big salary don't mean anything if you aren't producing.

The bad news is it's a mid season distraction that has obviously effected the room. Lombardi could have done it in the summer and it would have gone a little easier.
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It shows that everybody is an expendable asset.
 
KINGS17 said:
Johnny didn't like the trade in the first place because Simmonds was going the other way. I don't think that there are many here that would agree with him on that point as Richards did set the tone in the 1st game of the 1st round Vancouver series that started the 2012 run to the cup.

To be fair though, he did say that Richards was a player that didn't have much gas left in the tank when he was acquired, and he was right.
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I nailed him with all this nonsense back in November (in the 1st Edition lol). He loved the deal at the time it went down, no nostradamus-predictions of a declining player to be seen. He did a 180 later when Simmonds started scoring and denounced the trade, changed his mind again when Richards went on his tear this first half of last year (and to be fair he did say he was "proven wrong" that particular time), and after his decline shortly thereafter has now never liked the trade again.
 
BigKing said:
He has played worse than both Lewis and Stoll. Richards doesn't bring the speed and energy that Lewis does nor the physical play of Stoll.

Nick Shore's time to learn at the NHL level is now in light of Richards' horrific play and Stoll's possible exit as an UFA. Sending Andreoff down instead of Richards does nothing except expose a guy that probably gets claimed by another team. Richards is not able to provide the toughness and physicality that Nolan brings. Nolan has played like 2012 Nolan the last couple of games which is more than what Richards brings at this point.

Regardless of all this, you can't look at Richards in a vaccuum and exclude systems and contracts...well, you can actually exclue systems because that is not the problem. Richards and his contract are one in the same: you can't separate one from the other.
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I am not looking at in a vacuum as LA is not saving his contract with him in the AHL, I think that Richards with his overpaid deal in the lineup give LA a better shot at getting back into the playoffs than the team without. His contract doesn't mean anything as it is pretty much on the books if he is in the NHL or AHL. As soon as he cleared waiver he should have been left in the NHL IMO. The value of putting him on waivers was if someone picked up his whole deal, that didn't happen.
As for the system I do wonder if Richards would succeed under a different system. I guess time will tell.
 
Ollie Weeks said:
I nailed him with all this nonsense back in November (in the 1st Edition lol). He loved the deal at the time it went down, no nostradamus-predictions of a declining player to be seen. He did a 180 later when Simmonds started scoring and denounced the trade, changed his mind again when Richards went on his tear this first half of last year (and to be fair he did say he was "proven wrong" that particular time), and after his decline shortly thereafter has now never liked the trade again.
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I'm just going on memory. That's too much research for me. :)
 
Perro said:
I am not looking at in a vacuum as LA is not saving his contract with him in the AHL, I think that Richards with his overpaid deal in the lineup give LA a better shot at getting back into the playoffs than the team without. His contract doesn't mean anything as it is pretty much on the books if he is in the NHL or AHL. As soon as he cleared waiver he should have been left in the NHL IMO. The value of putting him on waivers was if someone picked up his whole deal, that didn't happen.
As for the system I do wonder if Richards would succeed under a different system. I guess time will tell.
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Obviously, Sutter believes that having Shore in the lineup over Richards gives the Kings a better chance to win. I have to agree.
 
Perro said:
I am not looking at in a vacuum as LA is not saving his contract with him in the AHL, I think that Richards with his overpaid deal in the lineup give LA a better shot at getting back into the playoffs than the team without. His contract doesn't mean anything as it is pretty much on the books if he is in the NHL or AHL. As soon as he cleared waiver he should have been left in the NHL IMO. The value of putting him on waivers was if someone picked up his whole deal, that didn't happen.
As for the system I do wonder if Richards would succeed under a different system. I guess time will tell.
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But there are cap savings: just not a lot.

You also don't waive him with the intention of keeping him on the big club. The $900k or whatever plus Shore getting NHL minutes is better than just keeping Richards with how he's played.

If Richards wants back up, he will have to earn it. Go down there and put up Nick Shore numbers while being responsible defensively and earn a call-up. No difference between Richards and any other Monarch other than pay checks at this point.
 
Mike Richards was not playing worse than any member of the Kings who played tonight. The Kings are not better off with him not being there.

Sending him down was a gamble and it's looking like it's not going to pay off.
 
Richards needed to be sent down to work on his game, the best place to do that is the AHL. You don't always have that option, but in this instance the Kings did have it.

So it is, what it is.
 
KINGS17 said:
Yup, shows you just how poorly Richards was playing.
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Richards was playing poorly because he was doing what Sutter asked and playing Sutter hockey... which didn't come naturally to him.. figure it out....

Also why is everyone looking at the past.... none of that matters... what matters is moving forward..... how to best mitigate the loss of a 6M cap hit in the minors. Can't wait to see Clarkson in the line up... :laugh:

Oh yeah and the Richards has to earn his way back up.... :laugh: No he doesn't he can sit in Manchester and cash his $6M dollar yearly check....

Doesn't matter much anyways as the Kings don't look like they're going to be at the cap next year.
 
lordjedediah said:
Mike Richards was not playing worse than any member of the Kings who played tonight. The Kings are not better off with him not being there.

Sending him down was a gamble and it's looking like it's not going to pay off.
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It's too soon to tell if it'll pay off or not though. We may not even know until next season if it pays off or not.
 
hockeywar said:
Shore didn't even suit up tonight, starting to make less and less sence.
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Nah, I was expecting him to sit out at least one game. They give the kids a taste, have them in and out of games, then send them down to work on their deficiencies. It seems to be their m.o. Of course, with the havoc caused by the Voynov and Richards situations and the prolonged funk the Kings are in, they might have to adjust their plan somewhat. But Sutter doesn't like to rush the kids if he can help it, just light the fire in them to come back better than ever.
 
lordjedediah said:
Mike Richards was not playing worse than any member of the Kings who played tonight. The Kings are not better off with him not being there.

Sending him down was a gamble and it's looking like it's not going to pay off.
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PUHLEASE!!! It's not like Richards is being scapegoated by the Kings' organization. He was given plenty of opportunities. When we are discussing Richards and the players that are in the NHL, we are not talking about TONIGHT's game.

I get the affection that many fans have for the guy, but he isn't a good fit for the Kings going forward if he doesn't turn his game around BIG TIME.

hockeywar said:
Shore didn't even suit up tonight, starting to make less and less sence.
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Actually, it makes a lot of sense. A young player can learn a lot by watching a game from the press box.

Trolfoli said:
Richards was playing poorly because he was doing what Sutter asked and playing Sutter hockey... which didn't come naturally to him.. figure it out....

Also why is everyone looking at the past.... none of that matters... what matters is moving forward..... how to best mitigate the loss of a 6M cap hit in the minors. Can't wait to see Clarkson in the line up... :laugh:

Oh yeah and the Richards has to earn his way back up.... :laugh: No he doesn't he can sit in Manchester and cash his $6M dollar yearly check....

Doesn't matter much anyways as the Kings don't look like they're going to be at the cap next year.
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You can keep slicing and peddling this baloney, but no one is buying it. Sadly, Dean is going to have to buy out Richards' contract if he doesn't turn his game around.

Herby said:
And last year he was playing poorly because of a viral infection.

Does any of the blame for MR's play actually fall on...you know...MIKE RICHARDS?
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No, not for the true jock riders.
 
Last edited:
I like Mike Richards and I hope he comes roaring back. But this article from a few days ago does a good job explaining How Mike Richards Ended Up On Waivers

His expectations have sunk to the point that the difficulty of minutes he’s played at 5v5 this season are comparable to those played by second-year teammate Tanner Pearson or rookies Leon Draisatl and Andre Burakovsky… and he’s performed significantly worse than all three of them.
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Richards2.jpg
 
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