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Mike Richards Placed on Waivers

January 26, 2015, 12:53 PM ET [98 Comments]
Jason Lewis
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Apparently the Kings were shopping Mike Richards extremely hard last night as the All-Star festivities came to a close.

And when the deal fell through the only natural solution for the cap starved Kings was to place the two-time Stanley Cup Center and the two time 70+ point scorer on waivers.







That's right folks, No. 10 is free to pick up. Not like anyone will pick up his monster 12-year 5.75 a season cap hit though.

Nonetheless this is a bit of a shocker considering the Kings have stood by Richards through his struggles on the ice. They stood by him even when the option of using an amnesty buyout was available.

Safe to say Dean Lombardi is probably regretting that decision right about now.

Nonetheless, this is a decision that almost had to happen for the Kings. Mike Richards has been too unproductive and is seeing too limited of ice time to be worth what they are paying. The Kings have also had almost zero breathing room with the cap, and things are looking even more stiff in the future with several key young players coming up for new contracts and extensions.




It is a business decision first and foremost.

Richards has six years remaining on his current deal, which would take him up to the age of 35 with the LA.

Richards has played three and a half seasons with the Kings and accumulated 132 points in 251 games. That's a pace of just around a point every other game, which is hardly what the Kings were expecting when they traded away Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, and a first round pick.

It is hard not to feel for No. 10, as he has suffered a couple of concussions along the way and has not looked the same since.

Who knows what the future holds for Mike Richards now. It is doubtful anyone claims him, and he may be cut loose in a buyout that costs the team this summer.

Will update as more details emerge. A shocker for the Kings today, but not really all things considered. Something had to give eventually. Prepare yourselves for the "XXXX Should claim Mike Richards" arguments.

To expand a bit, it is both practical and difficult to blame Dean Lombardi in this instance. On one hand, he had a get out of jail free card on Richards this past summer. The amnesty buyout now seems like salvation in hindsight. However, the Kings boss decided to stand by his man, and give him every last chance to prove he was worth it. In the end Lombardi got burned but you can't fault him for really wanting the guy to succeed and giving him every last opportunity to do so.

If Richards clears he can still be recalled during the playoffs. Does he clear? I'd say yes, but stranger things have happened.

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