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Mike Richards (Warning in OP)

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I found this interesting:

Offensive zone starts + points per 60 minutes

Toffoli 48.4 2.8

Carter 49.6 2.75

Pearson 49.8 2.48

Gaborik 59.5 2.32

Richards 47.2 1.47

Kopitar 51.6 1.46

Lewis 60.6 1.43

Williams 55.5 1.29

Clifford 51.2 1.24

Brown 50.4 1.14

King 44.6 0.88

Stoll 54.7 0.68

Nolan 53.8 0.35

Andreoff 38.7 0

I'm not entirely sure why so many are dumping on Richards. He's got one of the lowest offensive zone starts among forwards, yet puts up the 5th highest points.

Richards outproduces Kopitar, Williams, and Brown, despite playing with bottom line guys the majority of the time.

This also illustrates just how poorly Kopitar is playing. I get he's in a slump, but for his salary he needs to bring much more to the table. Your 6.8M #1 center shouldn't be 6th on the team in points-per-minute.

It also shows how Brown, who makes more than Richards, has been a dumpster fire. He's getting outproduced by Lewis and Clifford 1/3rd of the way through the season…

At least Richards is somewhat pulling his weight, despite playing with less skilled linemates and not getting the benefit of offensive zone starts. Kopitar is dragging down whoever he plays with right now, and Brown is turning into a salary anchor.
 
Fishhead said:
I found this interesting:

Offensive zone starts + points per 60 minutes

Toffoli 48.4 2.8

Carter 49.6 2.75

Pearson 49.8 2.48

Gaborik 59.5 2.32

Richards 47.2 1.47

Kopitar 51.6 1.46

Lewis 60.6 1.43

Williams 55.5 1.29

Clifford 51.2 1.24

Brown 50.4 1.14

King 44.6 0.88

Stoll 54.7 0.68

Nolan 53.8 0.35

Andreoff 38.7 0

I'm not entirely sure why so many are dumping on Richards. He's got one of the lowest offensive zone starts among forwards, yet puts up the 5th highest points.

Richards outproduces Kopitar, Williams, and Brown, despite playing with bottom line guys the majority of the time.

This also illustrates just how poorly Kopitar is playing. I get he's in a slump, but for his salary he needs to bring much more to the table. Your 6.8M #1 center shouldn't be 6th on the team in points-per-minute.

It also shows how Brown, who makes more than Richards, has been a dumpster fire. He's getting outproduced by Lewis and Clifford 1/3rd of the way through the season…

At least Richards is somewhat pulling his weight, despite playing with less skilled linemates and not getting the benefit of offensive zone starts. Kopitar is dragging down whoever he plays with right now, and Brown is turning into a salary anchor.
Click to expand...

I am not worried about Kopitar.
But ya Brown should be the one getting ripped not Richards
 
Jason Lewis said:
Wrote a little bit on Richards today.

Feel free to check it and share your thoughts!

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Jason-Lewis/Has-Mike-Richards-Changed-at-All/179/64754
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Pretty good writeup, Jason. Fair observations all around. I hadn't realized that Richards was being specifically utilized as the shutdown guy moreso these days. Makes sense like you said, though, with Stoll's game being similarly all over the map.

If Stoll were his usual defensive self, that would be a nice option for Sutter, and allow Richards a bit offensive input.
 
Ollie Weeks said:
You would be wrong. You have also been corrected on this in the past. Please pay attention.
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No rational human can expect Richards to be as physical as his early Philly days...it's impossible to keep up that type of play mid-to-late career. However, Mike's complete lack of physicality is a problem (one of many). He doesn't even bring the threat of heavy contact, ever. Opposing D-men can relax a bit when he's in the zone since they know contact won't be made.

Edit....he did have that nice hit against the Ducks this year, although that seemed to be slightly accidental
 
KBA4life said:
But he brings intangibles, man. Intangibles!
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Not sure if serious but he does.

You'd have to be pretty lucky to be part of two down 3-0 comebacks. Also he was the captain of Kitchener ( Memorial cup), 2005 Canada WJC (Gold), and the Flyers
 
Johnny Utah said:
The only two big hits he has thrown as a King were on Vorachek and Burrows.
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Yes, those ARE the ones on the yoobtoob, aren't they? If I bring up one more, will say that there have only been 3 big hits? I can think of OEL, Keith, Couture a couple times, and couple against Nashville and Dallas not too long ago off the top of my head.

And I'm not bringing up the fights, because that's supposed to be your department. I assumed you'd have that covered.
 
Jeff18 said:
Not sure if serious but he does.

You'd have to be pretty lucky to be part of two down 3-0 comebacks. Also he was the captain of Kitchener ( Memorial cup), 2005 Canada WJC (Gold), and the Flyers
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Leaders don't need to be reminded by your GM to stay in shape in the offseason.

Richards has been a captain and all that jazz before, so that obviously means he's a good locker room guy...but the whole "he brings intangibles" argument is moot when his production is horrific, and his effort questionable (again, having to be reminded to stay in shape).

He seems like a good dude, he comes off as a smart guy in interviews....but his play freakin sucks.
 
KBA4life said:
No rational human can expect Richards to be as physical as his early Philly days...it's impossible to keep up that type of play mid-to-late career. However, Mike's complete lack of physicality is a problem (one of many). He doesn't even bring the threat of heavy contact, ever. Opposing D-men can relax a bit when he's in the zone since they know contact won't be made.

Edit....he did have that nice hit against the Ducks this year, although that seemed to be slightly accidental
Click to expand...

He's a had a few nice open ice hits this year. On the hitting front I've noticed him more than, say, Brown. He hasn't been a force, but I think he brings it when needed. Anyway he's generally too busy trying to figure out how to make the puck go from his stick to off Kyle Clifford's stick, and from there ensure it carries the net. Lot of trigonometry to get right in the middle of a game.

The hitting is a smaller part of the issue. A player's game is going to evolve, and I don't think this sort of evolution should necessarilyhave a negative connotation.
 
Ollie Weeks said:
He's a had a few nice open ice hits this year. On the hitting front I've noticed him more than, say, Brown. He hasn't been a force, but I think he brings it when needed. Anyway he's generally too busy trying to figure out how to make the puck go from his stick to off Kyle Clifford's stick, and from there ensure it carries the net. Lot of trigonometry to get right in the middle of a game.

The hitting is a smaller part of the issue. A player's game is going to evolve, and I don't think this sort of evolution should necessarilyhave a negative connotation.
Click to expand...

I hear ya that it's borderline impossible to produce offense with Clifford/Lewis/Nolan/King as your linemates. But, it was Richards' own poor play that forced Sutter's hand to push him to the 4th line. I'm sure everyone in the Kings organization would be thrilled to have an effective 2nd line center in Richards with Carter on his wing. That would push Toffoli and/or Pearson down to the 3rd line and we might actually see some balanced scoring. Sutter can't do that since Richards is a liability for prolonged 5-on5 minutes against top-six caliber opposition.
 
Ollie Weeks said:
Yes, those ARE the ones on the yoobtoob, aren't they? If I bring up one more, will say that there have only been 3 big hits? I can think of OEL, Keith, Couture a couple times, and couple against Nashville and Dallas not too long ago off the top of my head.

And I'm not bringing up the fights, because that's supposed to be your department. I assumed you'd have that covered.
Click to expand...

Johnny Utah said:
Great. 5 hits in 3 years.

Intangibles are worth 6 million?
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:laugh:
 
Ollie Weeks said:
He's a had a few nice open ice hits this year. On the hitting front I've noticed him more than, say, Brown. He hasn't been a force, but I think he brings it when needed. Anyway he's generally too busy trying to figure out how to make the puck go from his stick to off Kyle Clifford's stick, and from there ensure it carries the net. Lot of trigonometry to get right in the middle of a game.

The hitting is a smaller part of the issue. A player's game is going to evolve, and I don't think this sort of evolution should necessarilyhave a negative connotation.
Click to expand...

Sorry, can't give you that one. Richards has been better this season, but Brown is by far more noticeable in terms of being physical and hitting.
 
The Tikkanen said:
The other side of the equation is if you're another NHL GM why would you want Richards?
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:shakehead

Richards has a bad cap hit but he's still a very solid all around player. Additionally, his cap hit declines each year in the coming final five years of his deal, meaning his cap hit is greater than his actual salary (starting in 2016-2017). For a team looking to get in over the cap floor, that's a good player to have.

Let's not pretend like the guy is a complete lead balloon here.
 
Slycer said:
Richards has been sucking for far longer than Kopita.
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Richards doesn't have the same expectations Kopitar does, nor has he ever been a non-factor in the playoffs like Kopitar was in 2013. This team won't die if Richards plays mediocre in regular season, the guy always shows up when it matters.
 
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