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Mike Richards IV: Started From The Bottom, Still Here *MOD WARNING Post #194*

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Ziggy Stardust said:
It's a bit alarming when you watch footage of Richards' play from 2012 and 2013 compared to his play the past two seasons.

What's most obvious is his skating. He moved around the ice just fine before, but the past two years he looked like he had anchors tied to his skates.

His reflexes also slowed down quite a bit. He used to make quicker plays with the puck, but then he suddenly developed cement hands and could barely make any tape-to-tape passes and would just pass within the general vicinity of a teammate.

These changes in his play were very visual, and it has me thinking that his problems have more to do with him being physically unable to do the things he used to be capable of.

If Richards was still playing anywhere near his play from 2012 or 2013, he'd be in the lineup, especially over a waste of roster space like Stoll.
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There were plenty of times during 2012 and 2013 seasons when he looked bad. In 2012 he went on a 1 goal in 35 games streak.
 
Bad Will Hunting said:
Richards' likes his chicken spicy.
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Look who's here. That's the guy that sidelined Richards'. That's the guy that took the bread out of Richards' mouth. Richards' is out of work because of you!

Richards' wants a piece of Herby! Richards' gonna get you Herby! HANDS OFF RICHARDS', DON'T TOUCH RICHARDS'!
 
johnjm22 said:
There were plenty of times during 2012 and 2013 seasons when he looked bad. In 2012 he went on a 1 goal in 35 games streak.
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He turned it on in the playoffs though, tied for 4th on the team with Williams, scoring 15 points in 20 games, which is more than what Carter had that year.

The next season he had 12 points in 15 playoff games, good for 2nd in team scoring, ahead of Kopitar, Williams, Brown, etc.

That's 27 points in 35 playoff games. He had a significant impact in providing offense during those two playoff runs. His 10 points in 26 playoff games last season also helped the team, but after every passing year, seems like different parts of his game continued to diminish, to the point where he's no longer a useful option for the coaching staff.

I think his playoff performances in previous years was a reason why Lombardi felt compelled to retain Richards in hopes that he would recover and bounce back. Sadly, that didn't happen.
 
There were signs early on that Richards was on the decline, but he was able to step up and play really well in the 2012 playoffs. I think 2013 was where the real concerns defensively started to come up and then 2014 the wheels just completely came off his entire game.

Again, the only regret the Kings have in this entire Mike Richards transaction is not using the compliance buyout. Had Dean made the logical choice the Kings end up with two SC's with Richards playing a key role in one of them and the Kings end the deal when it's apparent MR's productive days are over it's still a massive win, and not that the deal isn't a huge win for the Kings but these last few years are going to sting, especially those two big buyout penalty years.
 
Think Lombardi would be able to swap bad contract for bad contract? Mike Richards carries a $5.75M cap hit until 2020, so I was looking at other lengthy contracts within that same range:

Matt Moulson, Buffalo Sabres, $5M cap hit until 2019
Stephen Weiss, Detroit Red Wings, $4.9M cap hit until 2018
Dave Bolland, Florida Panthers, $5.5M cap hit until 2019
Travis Zajac, New Jersey Devils, $5.75 cap hit until 2021
Mikhail Grabovski, New York Islanders, $5M cap hit until 2018
Joffrey Lupul, Toronto Maple Leafs, $5.25M cap hit until 2018
Dion Phaneuf, Toronto Maple Leafs, $7M cap hit until 2021

Seems like the most probably undesirable contract to be swapped would be Phaneuf out of that group, but those other undesirable contracts might also work if a team is compelled enough to take a chance on damaged goods.
 
Reclamation Project said:
Why do you always write Richards'?
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Ziggy Stardust said:
Think Lombardi would be able to swap bad contract for bad contract? Mike Richards carries a $5.75M cap hit until 2020, so I was looking at other lengthy contracts within that same range:

Matt Moulson, Buffalo Sabres, $5M cap hit until 2019
Stephen Weiss, Detroit Red Wings, $4.9M cap hit until 2018
Dave Bolland, Florida Panthers, $5.5M cap hit until 2019
Travis Zajac, New Jersey Devils, $5.75 cap hit until 2021
Mikhail Grabovski, New York Islanders, $5M cap hit until 2018
Joffrey Lupul, Toronto Maple Leafs, $5.25M cap hit until 2018
Dion Phaneuf, Toronto Maple Leafs, $7M cap hit until 2021

Seems like the most probably undesirable contract to be swapped would be Phaneuf out of that group, but those other undesirable contracts might also work if a team is compelled enough to take a chance on damaged goods.
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Weiss, Grabovski and Lupul seem the best of those options.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
He turned it on in the playoffs though, tied for 4th on the team with Williams, scoring 15 points in 20 games, which is more than what Carter had that year.

The next season he had 12 points in 15 playoff games, good for 2nd in team scoring, ahead of Kopitar, Williams, Brown, etc.

That's 27 points in 35 playoff games. He had a significant impact in providing offense during those two playoff runs. His 10 points in 26 playoff games last season also helped the team, but after every passing year, seems like different parts of his game continued to diminish, to the point where he's no longer a useful option for the coaching staff.

I think his playoff performances in previous years was a reason why Lombardi felt compelled to retain Richards in hopes that he would recover and bounce back. Sadly, that didn't happen.
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The production you're referring to came after Carter starting playing on his wing, and while I do agree that Richards played better during the playoffs, there was many times when he looked ineffective, slow, and disinterested in 2012/2013.

After the Richards trade, the Kings were not a better team from a purely statistical perspective. It wasn't until Sutter/Carter came that thing started to turn around.

What I've seen from Richards this season doesn't look much different to me than what I saw from him during his bad stretches in prior years.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
Think Lombardi would be able to swap bad contract for bad contract? Mike Richards carries a $5.75M cap hit until 2020, so I was looking at other lengthy contracts within that same range:

Matt Moulson, Buffalo Sabres, $5M cap hit until 2019
Stephen Weiss, Detroit Red Wings, $4.9M cap hit until 2018
Dave Bolland, Florida Panthers, $5.5M cap hit until 2019
Travis Zajac, New Jersey Devils, $5.75 cap hit until 2021
Mikhail Grabovski, New York Islanders, $5M cap hit until 2018
Joffrey Lupul, Toronto Maple Leafs, $5.25M cap hit until 2018
Dion Phaneuf, Toronto Maple Leafs, $7M cap hit until 2021

Seems like the most probably undesirable contract to be swapped would be Phaneuf out of that group, but those other undesirable contracts might also work if a team is compelled enough to take a chance on damaged goods.
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Some great options there... may just be better off keeping Richards... :naughty:
 
I'd probably take Lupul out of all of those. Shortest duration remaining and the best player based on that. Push comes to shove, throw him on LTIR. That Zajac contract is atrocious.
 
Richards is going to get recalled for the playoffs.

Take it to the bank. (E5)
 
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