Since we are nearly finished with player evaluations (what a task that ended up being for a solitary man), we can start peppering preview stuff and questions that matter for the upcoming season.
First off, Mike Richards.
*Cue mixture of gasps and applause*
Always at the center of some sort of question pertaining to his contract, his place in the lineup, his quality of play.
This last post-season Richards found himself on the wrong end of a log jam, playing 4th line center for the majority of the playoffs while filling in on other lines as needed. After a year of bouncing between the 2nd and 3rd line center positions, and even wing at times (yuck), Richards seemed at his best oddly enough when he was on the bottom lines. Why? Because no one really noticed him. And to be quite honest, that sort of down the middle balance of Kopitar, Carter, Stoll, and Richards, gave the Kings a one-up in Matchups. Remember those lovely usage and corsi charts that our friend Robert from Jewels from the Crown were posting during the postseason?
Head-to-head Corsi through 3. The Kings have been playing a pretty good ice hockey game. pic.twitter.com/lGK1iqb5VS
— Robert Paredes (@RobertJFTC) June 14, 2014Matchups after 1. Mike & Brad Richards battling it out in the most expensive 4th line matchup in NHL history. pic.twitter.com/aZuUM5RxRu
— Robert Paredes (@RobertJFTC) June 12, 2014This all changed quite drastically from the start of the playoffs when the Sharks and Kings played, and the Sharks were absolutely hounding the Mike Richards match up. Richards was paired up with King and Carter through the first three games and Todd McClellan was absolutely punishing the Richards line by matching them against Joe Thornton whenever possible.
Gaborik-Kopitar-Williams King-Richards-Carter Toffoli-Stoll-Brown Clifford-Lewis-Nolan
The result? The Kings basically lost a productive line which included Carter, the Kopitar line was left on an island, Toffoli was playing 3rd line, and the 4th line was the 4th line.
Sutter's solution? Bury him. Game 4 we see a different lineup for the first time. It would turn into a forward lineup that would remain basically the same for the rest of the playoffs.
Gaborik-Kopitar-Brown Pearson-Carter-Toffoli King-Stoll-Williams Clifford-Richards-Lewis
Did swapping Richards have that big of an effect on the game? Well, there were a few things. Obviously shifting Richards down helped protect his minutes a bit which made him more useful. You don't think they were protecting his minutes? They were. In fact, the four forwards on the Kings who faced the lowest Quality of Competition over the course of the playoffs were Mike Richards, and the 2nd line (Pearson, Toffoli, Carter). Some other roster moves obviously helped out a bit. Jettisoning Nolan in place of Tanner Pearson was a wonderful move, and shifting Williams and Brown helped balance out the Kings scoring across all lines. Simple moves. Big results.
It really all came down to the Kings playing matchups, or rather, the lack thereof. The Kings rolled 4 lines on a regular basis and there were few teams who could roll four lines as effectively as the Kings. That's why you saw so many lopsided games or series where one line would simply take over. That 70's line from the Chicago series anyone?
The question to me is, do you keep Richards where he is to start the season? He seemed in better position to see the game on the 4th line. While he ended up having a somewhat decent season overall with 40+ points and 10 in the playoffs, the obvious things come into play. We are paying him a lot. The Kings are paying him $5.75MM AAV to be exact...until 2019-20. Is that really what you want to be paying a 4th line center? When Richards was playing 19 minutes a game in last year's postseason playing on the 2nd line it didn't seem all that bad, but now that he has wrapped up a playoff run that saw him play a shade over 15 minutes a night from the 4th line...well, yea.
When you look at comparables of ice-time of other Western Conference playoff teams it gets even more interesting.
Players around 15 minutes of avg TOI for the 2013-14 postseason
Andrew Cogliano (3.0MM) - 14:53 Ben Smith (1.5MM) - 15:13 Marcus Kruger (1.325MM) - 15:39 Derrick Brassard (3.2MM Last season, now 5.0) - 15:46 Benoit Pouliot (1.3MM last season, now 4.0, sheesh EDM) - 15:42
I could pull names all day long, odds are most of them will be costing less than Mike Richards.
So the question is posed yet again, would you be comfortable with Mike Richards being what he currently is for the next 6 years at that price tag? I certainly wouldn't be if I were a GM. Maybe that's why this rumor was swirling around this offseason. Then again, you just came off a 2nd Stanley Cup where he was a 4th line center. What's wrong with it? I guess in the greater scheme of things there isn't a whole lot wrong with it. As long as the Kings are winning right? And more importantly hoping that it doesn't handcuff the team financially down the stretch. I think a lot of us are still thinking about the Mike Richards of the Philly days. Maybe the Kings were also when they traded Schenn, Simmonds, and a 2nd for him (Ended up in Dallas, Devin Shore). Richards could have a big turnaround year and finally get back to his 60 point days. Who knows. Heck, if he even came close to that next year I would be dancing in the street.
For now we are left with a precarious question that I'm sure a lot of us didn't foresee being asked when he was acquired. Should he start the season as the Kings 4th line center? Yikes. Well, consider that it is Darryl Sutter and he constantly says there is no 1-2-3-4 when it comes to lines, and when you see the way he utilizes changes it's true. But even if you wanted to put Richards back into the Top 9 who does he displace? Stoll? Toffoli? Carter? Pearson? We are a long way from the Philly days and there is still a lot for No. 10 to prove when it comes to the price tag. He already has two cups, maybe it's time to just let it be with the classic "He is what he is." line.
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