Our local speculative pundit penned this article:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/Fit-for-a-King-262643351.html
My opinion? I don't see Richards being bought out.
I don't read much of Lawless' stuff because, well, its Lawless, but I had to laugh. The article is about how LA might buy out Richards due to his $5.75 million cap hit, yet says Winnipeg should "offer 3 years at $4 million. Or more if needed." So by "more" I'd assume he'd be ok with $4.5 million, maybe even up to $5 million.
If that's the case, how is Richards' contract so bad that we need to buy it out when apparently he's only slightly overpaid by about $1 million a year cap-wise? We could just trade him to Winnipeg (or some place else) and get assets back, not waste millions to rid us of a contract that isn't even all that bad.
But again, you guys say all this stuff but then refuse to acknowledge who from this team that you are willing to sacrifice to keep him beyond next season when the cap issues will start.
Do you want Brown traded?
Do you want Muzzin traded?
Do you want two of Martinez, Stoll and Williams to leave as UFA's?
The GM quoted in the article said it best, "LA has some tough decisions to make" , and maybe you are right, they will keep Richards for the life of the contract, but then that means the tough decision is losing some of the guys listed above.
And again, I think several people have posted in this thread that there won't be cap issues, assuming the cap continues to rise steadily and ownership continues to allow DL to spend to the cap limit, both of which appear very likely. Some, including myself, have even posted cap projections for next year, WITH Gaborik signed. Yet you continue to hammer on this.
WHAT cap issues? I know you are talking not just next year but two years down the line, but if the cap is $75 million in two years, which seems likely and in fact could be a fair bit higher, what are our issues Herby?
We know Brown's cap hit, Muzzin we can ballpark at $4.5 million a season, Martinez is a big X-factor, but more so because DS seems to not like him more than it is to get him signed. I expect Stoll to be released after next season and replaced from within or via trade as his strength is his leadership and faceoff skills, not the things that general cost a lot of cap room to replace. Williams, who knows but I wager $4 to $4.5 million a season on his next deal, all depending on his regular season performance next year.
And if you are worrying about Toffoli and Pearson, don't. They have looked good in the playoffs, 100% agree on that, but Toffoli had 29 points in 65 games this season while Pearson had seven in 25 games. Odds are both will get a bridge contract for two or three years like O'Sullivan, Johnson, etc. They don't have arbitration right if I'm not mistaken and thus have virtually no leverage, DL will keep them cheap for a few more years.
DL has shown time and again he can keep this team together under the cap, all without NTC's/NMC's (minus Brown who has a partial one) so excuse me if I trust him to do it again...and again...again. If he thinks Mike Richards is worthy of being kept around and making that cap hit, I trust not only his judgement on that but also his ability to make it work within the cap and the Kings salary structure.
