LA Kings terminate contract of center Mike Richards
Give credit where credit is due: Mike Richards, the former Philadelphia Flyers captain who was once so maligned he attempted to freeze out the media, addressed every question that came his way in the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
You couldn't find anyone more qualified to lead the Kings into a four-game battle after falling behind 0-3 against the San Jose Sharks. That formerly-maligned captain helped the Flyers complete the rare comeback in the second round of the 2010 playoffs. Just like in Philadelphia, Richards helped the Kings to Stanley Cup Final. Whatever leadership they needed out of him, they got.
But they haven't gotten enough of it since the Stanley Cup run ended. Richards cleared waivers on Monday morning and instead of exercising a compliance buyout, the Kings terminated his contract.
"The Los Angeles Kings today have exercised the team's right to terminate the contract of Mike Richards for a material breach of the requirements of his Standard Player's Contract," the team said in a statement. "We are not prepared to provide any more detail or to discuss the underlying grounds for the contract termination at this time."
Here's where Richards will not get any credit: Coming to camp in shape. Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said the centerman that has repeatedly came to training camp out of shape and even failed to keep himself at his playing weight. The numbers are telling: 12 goals in 2012-2013, 11 in 2013-2014 and only five goals, 11 assists and a minus-10 rating this past season.
The #LAKings have issued the following statement and will not comment any further at this time. https://t.co/DztxlmWdQX
— LA Kings (@LAKings) June 29, 2015
Richards, a two-time Stanley Cup-winning Olympian, was even forced to play in the minors for a long stint this season. He was largely ineffective in limited games with the big club -- the decline in skills was steep.
Last summer, Lombardi went up to Richards' cottage in Kenora, Ontario, and one final plea. With the high of the Cup win still lingering and promises from Richards, Lombardi decided not to to exercise the buyout. In doing so, he showed his admitted weakness: Loyalty.
A compliance buyout seemed imminent this morning, but the savvy Lombardi found a loophole in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Between his failure to comply with the club's requirements and the $14.6 million owed to him over the next five years, Lombardi saw termination as his best option.
This could get messy. There is speculation of some sort of off-ice incident involving Richards and his lawyers and the NHL Players Association could challenge this termination. But for now, his salary is off the books and he's off the team.
