Mike Richards

Although the most exciting portions of the NHL offseason are now complete, there's still some player movement on the horizon as teams begin filling out their rosters. The frenzied nature of the activity has merely been traded in for a more measured approach.

The question for the remaining free agents is whether they want to sign soon or wait awhile to see what could become available as the season draws closer. Waiting represents a risk, but it could also yield the most promising position once the dust settles in a few months.

With that in mind, let's check out some of the latest news and rumors from around the league. Each section also includes a prediction for where that player will eventually land.

Kris Russell Targeted for Depth

Russell's production dropped as he split last season between the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars. He scored just 19 points in 62 games. The total represented his lowest output when playing at least 60 games since his rookie campaign in 2007-08.

The 29-year-old blueliner tallied 63 points over the previous two seasons in Calgary, though. So there's reason for optimism if a team is seeking to bolster its second or third pairing. Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel reported the Florida Panthers could be one such team:

Panthers are showing interest in FA D Kris Russell acc to source #FlaPanthers

— Harvey F. (@hfialkov) July 11, 2016

Joe Haggerty of CSN New England noted earlier in July the Boston Bruins were also "kicking the tires" on Russell. A source told Haggerty the defenseman has already turned down a four-year, $17 million offer with hope something better would arise after the initial free-agent wave.

Ultimately, Florida seems like an ideal fit on paper after the team lost some offensive flair on defense with the departure of Brian Campbell, who scored 31 points last season. Russell could help fill the void if the front office is willing to bet on a bounce-back season.

Prediction: Panthers

Buffalo Sabres Pitch to Jimmy Vesey

The Sabres traded a third-round draft pick to the Nashville Predators for Vesey's negotiating rights last month. Now they have until Aug. 15 to convince him to sign with them rather than enter the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

They held a meeting with the coveted Harvard product last week to make their sales pitch and see if he'd soften his stance on reaching free agency. John Vogl of the Buffalo News passed along comments from Peter Fish, the winger's agent, who unsurprisingly wasn't prepared to make any commitments.

"The meeting went very well, I'd have to say," Fish said. "However, until we sit down with Jimmy and fully digest everything we heard yesterday, I can't really comment on how it might affect Aug. 15."

Trading a mid-round pick for the chance to convince Vesey to sign was the right move for Buffalo, even if he ends up going elsewhere. It has a major void in its top six, which the Hobey Baker Award winner could immediately fill as the Sabres try to move out of the rebuilding phase.

That said, the fact Vesey will have a limited cap hit as he signs his first pro contract means just about every team in the league could make the financial side work. So Vesey probably wants to see what other situations are available, and his hometown team in Boston will likely be tough to beat.

Prediction: Bruins

Mike Richards Waiting for Opportunities

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGC5WhDoPpU

Richards' numbers have steadily declined over the last handful of seasons. He scored just 16 points in 53 games for the Los Angeles Kings two years ago. The Washington Capitals picked him up as a possible buy-low candidate in January, but he registered just five points in 39 contests down the stretch.

It's a far cry from his days as a high-impact contributor with the Philadelphia Flyers. He had four straight years with at least 60 points beginning in 2007-08. The drop-off means it's no surprise the 31-year-old veteran told Ryan Young of Kenora Online he's still waiting for things to pick up.

"Not much right now just training, trying to get ready for the season. Not sure where it's going to be yet, but hopefully get some traction in the next couple of weeks," Richards said. "I plan to play hockey next year. So, it will just be what is the best fit for me."

Richards opted for the best team available last season when he joined the Capitals. If he's looking to rebuild his value, however, his best bet is trying to find a team where he'll be able to earn at least occasional top-six minutes and a role on the power play.

Teams like the Arizona Coyotes and Carolina Hurricanes, which aren't ready to contend but feature some promising young talent, make the most sense. It's no guarantee he'll come anywhere close to his previously valuable ways, but it would be a worthwhile low-risk signing for a team needing depth.

Prediction: Coyotes

The drug charges brought against Washington Capitals forward Mike Richards were stayed by a judge in Manitoba, Canada, court Wednesday.  

According to CBC News, the charges can be revisited within the next year, although that doesn't often happen.

The 31-year-old center was initially charged with possession of a controlled substancein August following an incident that saw Richards get detained at the Canadian border in June due to the alleged possession of the narcotic Oxycodone.

Following the incident, the Los Angeles Kings terminated the five years and $22 million remaining on his contract. The two parties ultimately reached terms on a settlement.

The Kenora, Ontario, Canada, native signed a one-year deal with the Caps in January, and he has one goal in 15 games for the NHL's top team.

After netting his first marker Monday night, head coach Barry Trotz discussed Richards' importance to the organization, per Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Anytime you come to a team, I know you want to start getting a couple goals or assists or something. ... He's seeing how much we value him. I think he also sees how much his teammates value him. He's proud, so he wanted to get on the board. There's no question."

The former All-Star won a pair of Stanley Cups during his time with the Kings, as well as an Olympic gold medal as part of Team Canada in 2010.

Richards racked up 62 or more points in every season from 2007-08 through 2010-11 while with the Philadelphia Flyers, but his production dropped off significantly following a trade to the Kings.

While the past couple of years have been extremely difficult for Richards both on and off the ice, things finally seem to be coming together for him in both regards.

Now that the drug charges are no longer a concern—at least for now—he has a golden opportunity to focus on hockey and attempt to capture his third Stanley Cup.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

Mike Richards is on his way back to the NHL.

The former captain of the Philadelphia Flyers, Selke Trophy finalist and two-time Stanley Cup winner agreed to what Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported was a one-year, $1 million deal with the Washington Capitals on Wednesday:

Mike Richards signs pro-rated $1M, one-year deal with #caps.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 6, 2016

There haven’t been many trades or signings around the league since the season got underway, but the Richards deal was one of three significant transactions announced on Wednesday as teams begin to gear up for the back half of the season and the playoffs.

For Washington, currently first in the NHL standings, every move from now through the end of the year will be about competing for a championship.

In that respect, the addition of Richards represented an opportunity to upgrade depth at the important centre position without parting with significant assets or dollars.

In an interview on the team’s official site, general manager Brian MacLellan took pains to describe the signing as a low-risk move, highlighting the relative modesty of Richards’ new deal. He also downplayed expectations as to Richards’ role on the team:

I think we’re going to be open-minded. We’re going to see where he’s at playing-wise. He’s been a No. 1 centre in this league, he’s been a third-line centre, a two-way guy. He’s been a fourth-line centre. We’re going to see where he’s at physically and mentally and try and incorporate him into our lineup where we see he fits. He could be a third-line centre, he could be a fourth-line centre.

In the short term, Richards will likely take on Jay Beagle’s role with the team. Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post reported that Beagle underwent hand surgery on Saturday and is expected to miss six weeks, leaving the Caps with a gap at centre on their third line for 20-odd games.

Beagle had been averaging 12 minutes per game at even strength, mostly with Jason Chimera and Tom Wilson, and had also been a key part of Washington’s penalty kill.

It’s a reasonable slot for Richards. Even at his worst, he was a very capable penalty-killer and competent faceoff man. Beagle has been a surprisingly good point producer over the last two years, averaging more than 1.5 points/hour at even strength. Richards has been below that lately, but as recently as 2013, he managed to reach that scoring level.

If Richards fares well in the role, Beagle could return on right wing, bumping Wilson into a fourth-line role and increasing the offensive punch of Washington’s depth forwards as well as the team’s ability to respond to injuries suffered during a playoff run.

If he’s less successful, he could be put in a fourth-line role himself. Or in the worst-case scenario, he could be dumped to the minors at a trivial salary-cap penalty.

The move also enables the Capitals to hoard their assets for bigger trade additions closer to the deadline if they so choose.

Barring injury, the addition of Richards further loads up an already dangerous Washington team, a team with a nice combination of top-end talent and depth at all positions.

Up front, the Capitals have two extremely dangerous lines. The top unit features the tried-and-true duo of Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom flanked by newcomer T.J. Oshie.

The second line includes veteran playoff performer Justin Williams and is centered by Evgeny Kuznetsov, whose emergence this year as an offensive dynamo has given Washington a lethal one-two punch.

Depth is still a bit of a question, though Richards helps.

Chimera/Beagle is a quality tandem for the third line, but after those two, the quality drops off significantly. Further development from first-round picks Andre Burakovsky and Tom Wilson would help, but it also wouldn’t be a shock if the Capitals added another forward before the trade deadline.

The defence appears primed for a Cup run, or at least it will be once everyone gets healthy.

Khurshudyan’s colleague Mark Giannotto wrote that the team’s top defence pair of Brooks Orpik and John Carlson are both making good progress and could return to the lineup soon, which would allow Matt Niskanen and Karl Alzner to resume second-pairing work and give Washington a formidable top four.

Round out the group with Nate Schmidt and Dmitry Orlov, and there is a lot to like about that blue line.

Playing in front of formidable goaltender Braden Holtby (25-4-2, .932 save percentage) doesn’t hurt either. Backup Philipp Grubauer is a quality insurance option.

Richards is good addition for a Washington team that could use upgraded forward depth, but the Capitals are also a golden opportunity for Richards.

This is a team that can use him if he shows himself able to play, and it’s a team that will likely enter the playoffs with home-ice advantage and a roster which—both on paper and during the regular season—has looked like a contender.

When the Kings terminated Richards' contract in June, it looked like his days of sipping from the Stanley Cup were behind him. His arrival in Washington means that he just might get to do it again.

Statistics courtesy of NHL.com and Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com.

Jonathan Willis covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for more of his work.

On Wednesday, the Washington Capitals agreed to terms with veteran forward Mike Richards, according to Capitals Today. Richards will receive a one-year, $1 million prorated contract.       

The 10-year veteran last appeared in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings in the 2014-15 season. 

Per Capitals Today, Richards met with the NHL earlier on Wednesday and was given clearance to resume his career. According to Lyle Richardson of the Hockey News, Richards is awaiting trial later this month for allegedly attempting to enter Canada with Oxycodone last June. 

TSN's Rick Westhead presumes that his charges won't affect his ability to cross the United States border into Canada if the Capitals have to play a road game there.    

Richards has recorded 133 goals and 216 assists in his career, which includes a pair of Stanley Cup championships with the Kings in 2012 and 2014.

A gritty center who can provide depth to the bottom two lines, the former Philadelphia Flyer and King is also a nice asset to have on the penalty kill. Richards trails only Marian Hossa for the active career lead in short-handed goals with 28. 

His acquisition will help the Capitals fill the void left by Jay Beagle, who is out six weeks after undergoing hand surgery on Saturday, per Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post.

It'll give the Capitals an opportunity to return Marcus Johansson to the fourth line and bump Zach Sill, a center who's played in just four games this year, out of the lineup. 

Richards' winning pedigree will also add value to this acquisition for the Capitals, who lead the NHL with 61 points this season. For a team that looks poised to make a lot of noise in the playoffs, Richards' presence, whether he's on the ice or not after Beagle returns, will help a roster that is void of Stanley Cup experience.

 

Stats courtesy of Hockey-Reference.com.

Mike Richards, the former Los Angeles King whose offseason included an arrest for illegal possession of a controlled substance that caused the Kings to terminate his contract, is back skating most every day with his former junior team and hopeful of a return to the NHL soon.

Pat Morris, the agent for the two-time Stanley Cup-winning center, told Bleacher Report as much on Monday. While Richards, 30, still has a court hearing slated for Dec. 8 on charges of possession of a prescription pain-killer that is barred throughout much of Canada, he is free to do things such as skate most days with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League, his former team.

Richards has refused all national media requests since his arrest in Emerson, Manitoba, in June, but he did recently grant an interview to Josh Brown, who covers the Rangers for the Waterloo Region Record.

"Obviously it has been stressful," Richards said. "Everyone says different things but I know who my family and friends are and that's all that really matters, having their support. You can't do anything about it now but push forward and look toward the future and try to learn from your mistakes."

Richards told the newspaper that he is healthy, feeling good and wants to prove he can help a team win again.

"I don't think it's about having anything to prove but more that burning desire to continue to have success," Richards said. "Winning those Stanley Cups were probably the best times of my life. I think that's what pushes me and keeps me going … to try and do that again."

Richards and the Kings/NHL reached a settlement last month on his contract that had five years and $22 million remaining before the arrest.

The Kings initially tried to terminate the full contract, but the NHLPA filed a grievance, leading to a settlement that Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported as $10.5 million through the 2031-32 season that includes a $3.12 million cap hit to the Kings this season.

Assuming Richards isn't detained by the law, where might he end up as a player?

Keep an eye on San Jose. Richards played for Kitchener from 2001-05, all under current Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer. San Jose could use a good depth checking center, and how spicy would that make the already-hot rivalry between the Sharks and Kings?

With Kings general manager Dean Lombardi having publicly disparaged Richards' play and character in a letter to the Los Angeles Times last month, Richards no doubt would make for a highly motivated Sharks player should he sign there.

Lundqvist, Holtby Dominating

It's starting to look like a two-horse race between the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist and Washington's Braden Holtby for this season's Vezina Trophy.

Both netminders posted shutouts on Monday night, entering Tuesday tied for the league lead in victories (12). They are first and second in the league in goals-against average (Lundqvist at 1.74, Holtby at 1.88), with Lundqvist having the edge in save percentage (.946 to .926).

Lundqvist's victory on Monday was the 351st of his career, all with the Rangers. He tied Terry Sawchuk's mark for the most wins with one team, with Martin Brodeur (688 with New Jersey) and Tony Esposito (418 with Chicago) ahead of him.

Hurray for Howe

The legendary Gordie Howe, 87, continues to amaze with his recovery from near death after undergoing a stem-cell transplant.

His son, Mark, told NHL.com's Mike G. Morreale that he FaceTimes with his father on most days and Gordie is doing well.

Man, would I love to see an in-depth documentary on how all this happened. It would be a huge ratings winner. As Mark Howe said in Morreale's story, his father had nearly given up on living following a series of strokes, but the stem-cell procedure literally and figuratively gave him new life.

Quick Takes

• The biggest free-agent bust of the year so far? Colorado's Carl Soderberg has to be among the clubhouse leaders. Signed to a five-year, $23.75 million deal over the summer, the former Boston Bruin has three goals, 12 points and a minus-seven rating in 21 games. According to Hockey-Reference.com, his Corsi percentage stands at 47.0 percent, down from 57.3 last season. Granted, Colorado's defense is lousy and makes it harder for the forwards to get the puck, but so far Soderberg has been part of the problem in Denver—not the solution management had hoped.
• I still like Scotty Bowman's theory on how to best increase offense—or at least more offensive chances. Forget skinnier pads or goalposts. Shrink the neutral zone by three feet on each side and add that space to the offensive zone. The more zone area defenders have to defend, the less they than can all collapse in the middle and just block shots.
• Forget about coach Patrick Roy getting fired, as some disgruntled Avs fans may want. Not going to happen, not this year anyway. He's also a vice president of hockey operations, so he'd essentially be firing himself. He'll either resign or kick himself upstairs before he ever gets fired first.
• When all the players are out of gas by the first seven minutes of the new three-on-three format for the NHL All-Star Game, don't come complaining here. My personal opinion: It's going to get monotonous to watch after the first few minutes, then things will get worse by how tired everybody will get. But, hey, All-Star Games have been bad for many years now.
• Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.

Adrian Dater covers the NHL for Bleacher Report.

When the Los Angeles Kings and Mike Richards came to a settlement on his contract last week after the Kings tried to terminate it, the NHL was quick to jump in and say his case set no precedent.

That is like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube, say many NHL agents and players who worry that Richards’ story has opened up new territory that teams in all sports might use to get out of paying under-performing, high-paid players.

“Are you kidding? Of course it set a precedent,” one longtime agent told Bleacher Report. “Another team is definitely going to try this again based on what the Kings did with Richards because they got away with it.”

Whether the Kings got away with anything has been the hot topic at NHL rinks over much of the last week.

To review: Richards, 30, was cited by the Kings for material breach of his contract after he was arrested in Emerson, Manitoba, on June 17 for alleged possession of OxyContin, a controlled substance that was banned throughout much of Canada in 2013. He was formally charged by Canadian authorities in August and has a court date slated for Dec. 8.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that the settlement is worth $10.5 million spread out in each season until 2032. That’s still less than the $14.7 million he would have received in a normal buyout the Kings probably would have administered during the June 15-30 league buyout window, if not for the arrest.

According to Friedman, the Kings will take a $3.12 million salary-cap hit for this season on Richards, a $1.57 million hit in the following four seasons and minimal amounts after that until 2032.

In other words, the Kings made out nicely on a player with a huge contract they didn’t want anymore.

According to Spotrac, the Kings have a current payroll of $69.2 million with the settlement. Had Richards been bought out normally, the Kings’ cap number would be $71.5 million—above the NHL ceiling of $71.3 million—and would have been squeezed more in the coming years.

That would have been bad news for a team with star center Anze Kopitar in the final year of his contract.

“What if Patrick Kane suffered some career-ending injury tomorrow and then something took a turn for the worse in his [rape] case. You don’t think the Blackhawks—looking at having a cap hit of $10 million for the next bunch of years—might not say to themselves, ‘Hmm, wonder if we can try what L.A. tried with Richards?'” said the same player agent.

“Maybe they hire a couple of private investigators and tail his every move and if he does one thing, make a quick call to the cops. Then they claim: ‘Breach, breach.’”

Along with more than a dozen agents, Bleacher Report canvassed several players for their reaction to the Richards story. One veteran NHL player who spoke on the condition of anonymity worries about future ramifications.

“That could be me some day, who knows?” he said. “It’s something that I think we’re going to have to keep an eye on as players.”

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly knows there are several unanswered questions and concerns among not only players and agents, but also 29 other general managers who may not be happy at a recent two-time Stanley Cup champion seemingly slipping its way out of a punishing contract.

Reached Wednesday by Bleacher Report, Daly said people are overreacting.

“I understand the sympathy for the player here, but people don’t know the full story and likely never will,” Daly said. “It’s always dangerous to jump to conclusions without knowing all the facts.”

As for accusations that the Kings had little basis on which to terminate Richards’ contract—keep in mind, Richards has been convicted of nothing—Daly said, “If your conduct is not consistent with the requirements of your contract, you are always subject to a club being able to claim material breach and terminating you as a result. That’s always been the case.”

Is simply being charged with possession of an illegal drug at the border grounds for terminating a player’s contract, though?

If so, dozens of players from all sports, including the NHL—Daly told TSN's Rick Westhead that the NHL has seen an uptick in player cocaine use in the last year—could be sued for breach by their teams.

That this happened to a player whose play had rapidly declined but still had five years and $22 million left on his deal, per General Fanager—as opposed to the Kings not immediately terminating the contract of their young, promising defenseman, Slava Voynov, after he was convicted of spousal abuse last year (though Voynov did voluntarily leave under the threat of termination)—is being viewed suspiciously around the league.

“If this happened to the 25-year-old Mike Richards, performing at a high level, instead of the 30-year-old, declining Mike Richards, do the Kings try to sue him for breach? No,” another longtime agent said.

“The optics of this whole thing is terrible for everyone, the league and the players association.”

One unanswered question with the story is, was Richards given help for any possible problem with prescription medications or other drugs through the NHL’s Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program?

In 2011, Philly.com's Dan Gross detailed the whispers of Richards' hard-partying lifestyle, going back to his days in Philadelphia. But there has never been any public disclosure of his being admitted to the league’s assistance program.

Daly would not address any specifics regarding Richards and the SABH, citing its confidential policies.

Last Friday, Kings GM Dean Lombardi raised eyebrows everywhere by writing a publicly disclosed email to Los Angeles Times hockey reporter Lisa Dillman in which he said Richards’ situation was a “tragedy,” Richards was in a “self-destructive spiral” and it was “the most traumatic episode of my career.”

Lombardi said he had heard “rumors” for years of possible off-ice issues with Richards, but he “refused to believe them” and was ultimately “played.”

About that letter, there was consensus that Lombardi showed poor form.

“I mean, going public like that, discussing team-player business and trashing Mike Richards’ character. I thought it showed poorly on Dean and the Los Angeles Kings,” one agent said. “The whole thing was just weird, and for Dean to say he was 'played'—I mean, he was with Richards in Philly. He didn’t know any of the ‘rumors’ about him back then. Really? It just doesn’t pass the smell test.”

Could Lombardi’s actions cause players to shy away from wanting to play for him and the Kings in the near term?

“I don’t think so. Players just want to know who the coach is when considering a new team, not so much the GM,” an East Coast agent said. “You wonder a little, though, if the players already on the Kings, what they thought of that letter.”

It remains unknown if Richards may have been prescribed OxyContin by Kings or any other NHL team doctors. Daly declined comment on that, as did Lombardi and the Kings in general.

Not everyone thought Richards finished a loser in all this.

One agent called it a “win” for the NHLPA: “He was going to get bought out, which would have gotten him two-thirds of the remainder of his deal, spread out over double the term. Then he was going to get terminated. The PA gets him probably close to what he was going to get anyway, and now he’s [a] UFA. He might have gotten nothing at all.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6SJu2f4sgc

Richards has not commented publicly since his arrest, and his agent, Pat Morris, declined to comment when reached by Bleacher Report. A source who lives in Richards’ hometown of Kenora, Ontario, said Richards is spending most of his time at his house on Lake of the Woods.

Morris did tell Westhead this week that Richards, an unrestricted free agent, hopes to resume his NHL career soon. That would almost certainly have to wait until his legal status is resolved.

When that might happen?

Like a lot in this saga, that remains unknown. All the unknowns the story has produced—and arguably will produce in the future—are what have a lot of people in the game worried.

Adrian Dater covers the NHL for Bleacher Report.

The NHL Players' Association announced in a press release Friday that it has reached a settlement with the NHL regarding former Los Angeles Kings forward Mike Richards' terminated contract.

Richards is now an unrestricted free agent.

Richards’ contract was terminated June 29 for what the team called a “material breach,” according to Josh Cooper of Yahoo Sports. Richards was allegedly stopped when crossing the United States-Canada border June 17 and later charged by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for possession of a controlled substance, according to Cooper.

The Kings issued a statement Friday via the team's official website: "The Los Angeles Kings have reached an agreement with Mike Richards to resolve the grievance filed in relation to the termination of his NHL Standard Players Contract. The terms are agreeable to all parties. We will not be commenting further on the terms."

Richards was at risk of losing all of the $22 million remaining on his contract, had the dispute reached an arbitrator, according to Chris Peters of CBS Sports. Instead, Richards will receive an undisclosed amount of money that will count toward the Kings' salary cap through 2031, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. 

As an unrestricted free agent, Richards can look for a new team, though Cooper indicated that “it’s unclear if a team would want to take a chance on the 30-year-old Richards, especially due to his declining production and now his association with prescription drugs.”

The incident involving NHL free agent Mike Richards at the Canadian border in June was finally given some clarity Thursday, as the two-time Stanley Cup winner was charged with possession of a controlled substance.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of Manitoba, Richards will appear in court Sept. 10 for a hearing regarding the charge against him.

Per Helene Elliott and Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times, the former Los Angeles Kings star was held at the Manitoba border crossing for four hours in June due to alleged possession of OxyContin pills.

The Kings subsequently terminated the remaining five years of Richards' contract and offered this explanation for the decision, according to ESPN.com's Katie Strang: "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."

In terminating the 30-year-old veteran's contract on those grounds rather than buying him out, the Kings are no longer responsible for paying out any portion of the deal. That led to the National Hockey League Players Association filing a grievance on Richards' behalf.

That process is still playing out, and TSN's Eric Macramalla believes the NHLPA has the upper hand in the matter:

Mike Richards being charged with possession will not alter the outcome of his grievance. Remains challenging case for Kings.

— Eric Macramalla (@EricMacramalla) August 27, 2015

The Kenora, Ontario, Canada, native has spent a total of nine seasons in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers and Kings, with one All-Star appearance to his credit.

His production has floundered in recent years, though, which resulted in L.A. sending him down to the AHL for 16 games this past season.

Richards' on-ice performance may have made it difficult for him to latch on with another team in 2015-16 to begin with, and it remains to be seen how his playing status will be impacted now that charges have been levied. 

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

On Monday, the NHLPA announcing that it had filed a grievance against the Los Angeles Kings over the team’s decision to terminate the contract of centre Mike Richards:

The NHLPA has filed a grievance on behalf of Mike Richards contesting the termination of his contract by the LA Kings.

— NHLPA (@NHLPA) August 10, 2015

This decision on the part of the union has been expected since virtually the moment that the Kings announced they were parting ways with Richards. The process now initiated by the NHLPA’s grievance is one that’s going to be watched by every team in the league, because all 30 member clubs of the NHL are going to be affected by the result.

As Eric Macramalla of Forbes wrote back in June, the players’ association had virtually no choice but to fight the Kings on this:

You can bet that the NHLPA will not accept the termination of Richards contract and will challenge it by way of arbitration. For the NHLPA, it simply cannot allow this precedent to stand as it could adversely impact its members. By allowing the termination to go unchallenged, the floodgates risk opening with teams terminating problem contracts. ‘He’s fat, cut him. He’s slow, cut him.’

For NHL teams, the benefits are obvious. In a salary-cap environment, the ability to terminate a contract confers an obvious advantage. If the Kings manage to win this, it would be a major blow to guaranteed contracts and would open the door for other teams in similar situations to avoid the nasty consequences of a buyout and instead go for a straight-out termination.

Macramalla argues that it’s unlikely that the Kings will be successful, and he points to Major League Baseball as an example of why. Among the cases he cites is that of Lamarr Hoyt, who was jailed on drug charges and would seem a more obvious candidate for contract termination. Instead, Macramalla writes, the union “filed a grievance and won.”

Given that history—history which NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr would be intimately familiar with since he he was the executive direct of the MLBPA—it seems improbable that the Kings will win. But while the NHL’s other 29 teams might prefer that Los Angeles set a favourable precedent, they would also benefit from a Kings loss.

Rich Hammond of the Orange County Register explains why:

If the Kings are ultimately successful in terminating Richards' contract, they will face only a $1.32 million ''recapture'' penalty over the next five seasons. If the NHLPA is successful with its grievance, the Kings could owe Richards $5.75 million in each of the next five seasons.

That $5.75 million figure is Richards’ cap hit; his actual salary is lower, coming in at a total of $22.0 million over the last five years of his contract. That’s an average of $4.4 million per season, and in the likely event that the Kings would instead perform a regular buyout they would have to pay two-thirds of that figure ($14.67 million) spread out over the next decade.

However, Richards’ deal isn’t uniform over those five years, which means his buyout isn’t either. The Kings would have the following annual cap hits in the event of a buyout:

2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-2025
$1.22MM	$1.72MM	$2.72MM	$4.22MM	$4.22MM	$1.47MM

That kind of penalty would make it difficult for Los Angeles, one of the best teams in the league over the last half-decade, to keep its roster together. For example, high-profile forwards Anze Kopitar and Milan Lucic are both free agents next summer. Richards’ deal would also make it more difficult to re-sign franchise defenceman Drew Doughty when his deal expires in 2019.

There would also be repercussions for free agents in this summer’s class who have yet to sign deals. The situations of Richards and defenceman Slava Voynov have the Kings in a holding pattern; depending on what happens they might be in a position to bid for some of the players out there. If Richards’ contract stands, that becomes far less likely.

It’s an ugly spot for the Kings, but for the NHL’s other teams there’s really no way this can end badly. If L.A. is successful, it makes it easier to dump ugly contracts. If the Kings fail, one of the NHL’s best teams will be in a terrible cap situation. It’s reasonable to think most of the league is quietly enjoying Los Angeles’ discomfort.

Salary information via generalfanager.com

Jonathan Willis covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for more of his work.

On Monday, the Los Angeles Kings placed Mike Richards on unconditional waivers with the intention of buying out his contract. Shortly after the news broke, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston calculated the extent of the damage:

Mike Richards will receive $14.67M over 10 years from his #LAKings buyout. Dean Lombardi's loyalty comes at a price since it counts on cap.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 28, 2015

Kings general manager Dean Lombardi could have bought Richards out last year, using one of the compliance buyouts that the league tossed out as life preservers after the new collective bargaining agreement came into effect in 2012-13. Unfortunately for L.A., he chose not do so, which means that the Kings will be on the hook for not only money but also significant cap space for the next decade.

Johnston used the word “loyalty” to describe the ill-considered decision, and understandably so. After all, that’s how Lombardi described the mistake to ESPN.com’s Katie Strang shortly after Los Angeles failed to qualify for the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs.

“It could be the worst decision I ever made, but for all the right reasons,” he told Strang. “In a cap world, you can't have any heart and soul. I struggle with that.”

Richards had five years left on a 12-season contract originally signed when he was in Philadelphia. According to TSN’s Frank Seravalli, the actual cap hit attached to the Kings will vary by year, peaking at just over $4.2 million in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. Los Angeles will face a $1.22 million cap penalty next season and then a minimum charge of $1.47 million against the salary cap each year until 2025.

That’s an insane price to pay for loyalty. But casting Lombardi as a good man who was simply too loyal to his trusted player misses a big piece of the picture. It’s a little like a job applicant describing himself as “too hardworking” when asked to identify personal flaws—not only is it glib, but there’s probably a real issue there that deserves some consideration.

In this case it comes down to some faulty cost/benefit analysis by Lombardi last summer.

Richards’ fall from grace had not been the result of one poor season. Looking at his numbers last September, it was obvious he had been struggling for a long time. Richards’ formidable reputation formed over years of strong play, combined with the effectiveness of the Kings, shielded him from being called out as an underperformer, literally for years.

So when calculating the possible benefits of keeping Richards under contract, Lombardi could realistically expect him only to rebound so much. There was never any appreciable chance that he was going to end up being worth his contract. At best, the Kings might have had a pivot who was mildly rather than ridiculously overpaid.

The other key benefit of this best-case scenario was financial: The Kings would not be paying large quantities of cash for a player not to play for them.

In other words, assuming the very best, Los Angeles would have a somewhat overpaid centre on the downhill side of his career arc on the roster for five more seasons after 2014-15.

Weighed against that was an opportunity to wipe him from the books immediately, a decision which would come with no lasting ramifications for the team from a hockey standpoint. Lombardi snaps his fingers, ownership writes a slightly larger check than the one it's writing this summer, and presto!—the Kings are suddenly not just a good hockey team but a good hockey team with reams of cap space.

Lombardi says it’s impossible to “have any heart and soul” in the NHL, as though Richards’ issues were not of the player's own making and as if the centre wasn’t going to be handsomely compensated for doing exactly nothing in the event of a compliance buyout.

Nobody would have realistically suffered; this was never a moral choice.

The truth is that Lombardi made a bad call. For whatever reason, he failed to make a decision that was obviously in the best interests of his team. If it was due to sentiment—to a desire to keep Richards in a city where he won two championships—it’s no more excusable than if Lombardi simply failed to appreciate how badly Richards had declined or had messed up while calculating team payroll.

Lombardi has made a lot of good decisions over his time at the helm of the team. Franchises just don't win multiple Stanley Cups in a 30-team league by dumb luck; on the whole, the club's management has been smart and effective.

Here, though, the Kings made a shortsighted decision. It is an error that will make it that much harder to win a third Stanley Cup, and the responsibility for the mistake falls on Lombardi's shoulders.

It really is that simple.

Jonathan Willis covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for more of his work.