[News] Kings terminate Richards contract. UPD: Kings and Richards reach settlement

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Serapth

Frankly that's just a matter of calibrating the bar.

Basically what I am saying is, if the league is willing to authorize a termination of a contract, that should apply on a league wide basis, unless of course its for a reason that has nothing to do with the player, like a clerical error etc. If the league decides a drug charge, or domestic abuse, or whatever else is enough reason for a player to have his contract terminated, it should go one step further and remove all eligibility to play, so the situation you described can't happen.


In my view this would both help and hinder players, as having their contracts terminated would be very difficult, with huge consequences, which IMHO it should be. On the other hand, it also punishes players heavily, basically kicking them from the league completely.


It's done in several professions. In many cases having a criminal records is grounds for expulsion from an industry. The league just needs to be absolute and consistent in it's criteria.

I'd wager in most industries/professions a criminal record prevents you from being employed in the first place and committing a crime while employed is grounds for termination without a second thought or question.

But most industries dont have only about 1000 jobs.

That being said, as I've said before, there isnt going to be any precedents set one way or the other because I dont believe either side wants that. Its going to be a case-by-case issue.

Expelling someone from an industry in which they are uniquely qualified to operate is a difficult legal procedure.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Possession isn't the reason why the Kings terminated his contract. Failure to inform the team of his arrest is. So in that respect, the number of pills, type of drugs, etc., is not terribly relevant to the merits of the Kings' case. Though it could have some effect given the charges will alter the risk of being denied entry at the border, length of any potential prison sentence, etc.

Except Richards was not charged with anything until the 25th, so they will have a damn hard time voiding his contract over that when he was not even charged with anything yet when they found out.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by 868904

I agree with you, but these players have a golden goose, and if you do something stupid to spoil it, it's your own fault.

Mike Richards really has no one to blame but himself here. He had it made and he goes and does something stupid like this?

The lesson here is, don't do drugs, it'll cost you.

And really, is Richards' drug use a cause of his poor play? If it is, then the Kings have every right to be pissed and terminate his contract. They signed him in good faith expecting the very best Mike Richards. Instead they get a guy who can no longer perform?

Nevermind the technicalities and legalalize, Richard's did not live up to his end of the bargain, that's a fact.

Mike Richards isn't the first player to sign a big deal and play like crap and he won't be the last but the fact of the matter is that the Rangers had to pay the price to cut bait with Brad Richards who also played like crap on a big deal so regardless of your feelings towards rich players not fulfilling their end of the bargain you can't have some teams getting away with skirting the rules and you cannot terminate a contract due to a player's substance abuse issue. The Kings are certainly trying their hardest here to see if they fan find the loophole but it doesn't make it right and can anyone here say with confidence the Flames if in the same situation would have pulled this? I can confidently say no so there's a matter of class, professionalism, and accountability (they knew the risk when they traded for the contract) that the Kings have chosen to forego in this matter as well.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The Kings are certainly trying their hardest here to see if they fan find the loophole but it doesn't make it right and can anyone here say with confidence the Flames if in the same situation would have pulled this? I can confidently say no so there's a matter of class, professionalism, and accountability (they knew the risk when they traded for the contract) that the Kings have chosen to forego in this matter as well.

Exact same situation? Where we have a player who is constantly out of shape, known to be out partying and drinking hard, and despite numerous warnings and meetings, does not stop or change his habits to better his career... then, he stopped producing at his job to the point he was hurting my team and creating a distraction...AND has a huge contract in both dollars and term... THEN he does something illegal that allows me to get out of his contract?

I would have no problem with that, but I personally do not have a sympathy for someone who retires on the job and still collect fat paychecks. Those opp

[Ice]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Mike Richards isn't the first player to sign a big deal and play like crap and he won't be the last but the fact of the matter is that the Rangers had to pay the price to cut bait with Brad Richards who also played like crap on a big deal so regardless of your feelings towards rich players not fulfilling their end of the bargain you can't have some teams getting away with skirting the rules and you cannot terminate a contract due to a player's substance abuse issue. The Kings are certainly trying their hardest here to see if they fan find the loophole but it doesn't make it right and can anyone here say with confidence the Flames if in the same situation would have pulled this? I can confidently say no so there's a matter of class, professionalism, and accountability (they knew the risk when they traded for the contract) that the Kings have chosen to forego in this matter as well.

You're pretty adamant that the Kings are behaving badly in this situation for someone who doesn't really know what the whole story is. The Kings are being extremely tight lipped. I usually get a good amount of information about what's going on with the Kings from very solid sources. Sometimes I hear about things before they happen, sometimes I hear about it after and get all the interesting details. This is the first time that people who typically hear or sometimes "overhear" everything eventually, have still not heard EVERYTHING about what happened a the border.

But believe this, everything the Kings have done the past two years regarding Richards has been nothing but classy. They have gone above and beyond what should be expected for the situation. A compliance buyout would have been the easy solution to just get rid of him with no penalty. There was no obligation for Lombardi to go to his house and make an agreement and give him another chance. I think its unfair to question the integrity of Dean Lombardi without the whole story. The whole story in this case may never come out. We'll have to wait and see.

In my opinion, if better choices had been made by the player, I don't think the "bad contract" everyone keeps mentioning is actually that bad of a contract. It only looks bad because the player has been unable to perform in a way that makes the contract worthwhile.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Exact same situation? Where we have a player who is constantly out of shape, known to be out partying and drinking hard, and despite numerous warnings and meetings, does not stop or change his habits to better his career... then, he stopped producing at his job to the point he was hurting my team and creating a distraction...AND has a huge contract in both dollars and term... THEN he does something illegal that allows me to get out of his contract?

I would have no problem with that, but I personally do not have a sympathy for someone who retires on the job and still collect fat paychecks. Those opp

Do we even know if the Kings have such a player? As far as I know the party issues were in Philadelphia and there are lots of players across the league that aren't in the shape their teams would prefer they be in. How come the Kings never bought out Dustin Penner? I can guarantee that Richards has never been in as poor shape as Penner (had a beer belly for crying out loud) was with the Kings.

The thing is that a teams don't care about things like this as long as they think the player can help them win as the Ducks promptly signed Penner after his Kings contract expired. The Ducks knew they were getting a lazy player but thought he was worth $2 million if he could score goals for them. The minute the player stops playing well the teams then focus on his issues but this isn't the NFL and teams can't have their cake and eat it too. They accepted the risks and it won them two Stanley Cups and now it's time for the Kings own up to and live with the residual payment.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Do we even know if the Kings have such a player? As far as I know the party issues were in Philadelphia and there are lots of players across the league that aren't in the shape their teams would prefer they be in.

Yes to both. Lots of stuff on the internet for both.

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

How come the Kings never bought out Dustin Penner? I can guarantee that Richards has never been in as poor shape as Penner was with the Kings.

Maybe someone like Ice can attest to this more than I can, but because Dean Lombardi has historically been very loyal to his guys.... too loyal in fact. Another reason that makes me believe the LAK have a case here; to have someone like Dean Lombardi try this, you have to be REALLY bad.

[TX_Flame]

Originally Posted by 868904

I agree with you, but these players have a golden goose, and if you do something stupid to spoil it, it's your own fault.

Mike Richards really has no one to blame but himself here. He had it made and he goes and does something stupid like this?

The lesson here is, don't do drugs, it'll cost you.

And really, is Richards' drug use a cause of his poor play? If it is, then the Kings have every right to be pissed and terminate his contract. They signed him in good faith expecting the very best Mike Richards. Instead they get a guy who can no longer perform?

Nevermind the technicalities and legalalize, Richard's did not live up to his end of the bargain, that's a fact.

It's easy to say "Don't do drugs," but this is not cocaine or meth we're talking about here. We're talking about painkillers. Painkillers that were most likely originally administered by the Kings or Flyers medical staff due to hockey related injuries. If he got addicted under those circumstances, wouldn't you say the team/NHL has a certain degree of responsibility to rehab him? Besides, the CBA SAYS THEY DO! Instead the Kings just cut him loose in order to circumvent the cap. Yeah, super classy there. (Sarcasm)

[TX_Flame]

Originally Posted by Locke

We have to separate Voynov/Richards. It isnt the same thing.

Dont get me wrong, I agree in some respects, one dude has some painkillers and its the end of the world and another guy beats the hell out of his wife and all is well, thats crappy, but thats not on the Kings.

So... beating the crap out of your wife isn't "conduct detrimental to the team and the game of hockey"???

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by 868904

Nevermind the technicalities and legalalize, Richard's did not live up to his end of the bargain, that's a fact.

His end of the bargain? His end of the bargain is that he play hockey for the team that controls his contract... and he did that.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Ice

Jarret Stoll plead guilty to misdemeanors, which isn't uncommon based on the amount of drugs he was caught with so crossing the border is not an issue. I doubt he would have been offered a contract with any NHL team prior to his plea because a felony conviction could have very likely prevented him from crossing the border.

With Richards, he's likely facing stronger charges than Stoll and therefore his ability to cross the border could be an issue.

Stoll was caught with an 8 ball of coke and over 8 grams of MDMA in gel caps form, which would probably be about 30ish caps since the recorded weight included the caps. He was originally charged with a felony.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...214816824.html

He plead guilty to those as misdemeanours because he got a wickedly good Vegas lawyer who was able to reduce it from a felony. That sounds like more then ''a couple pills in a bottle'' that Sureloss quoted. Maybe it's because of the State he was arrested in, I have no idea how it works in the USA. But seems to me Stoll got off much lighter even though he had much more in his possession.

[Jason14h]

Besides, the CBA SAYS THEY DO! Instead the Kings just cut him loose in order to circumvent the cap. Yeah, super classy there. (Sarcasm)

You realize a player can't be babysat 24/7 and LA (Lombardi) was going to buy out Richards and after having a talk with him gave him a last chance.

So to repay that he went and go arrested and didn't inform the team (At a minimum)

Other then the fact as a Flames fan LA having less cap space is a good thing, how can anyone actually be on Richards side or not think he deserves to be fired and have his contract terminated.

[TX_Flame]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

THEN he does something illegal that allows me to get out of his contract?

Except the CBA doesn't allow you to get out of his contract.
If not... can someone slip some oxy into Bollig, Raymond and Engelland's luggage?

[Jason14h]

Maybe it's because of the State he was arrested in, I have no idea how it works in the USA. But seems to me Stoll got off much lighter even though he had much more in his possession.

Possession of Oxy is considered way worse then both of those and will be a much harsher punishment usually.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Except Richards was not charged with anything until the 25th, so they will have a damn hard time voiding his contract over that when he was not even charged with anything yet when they found out.

I said arrested, not charged.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Other then the fact as a Flames fan LA having less cap space is a good thing, how can anyone actually be on Richards side or not think he deserves to be fired and have his contract terminated.

Because in so far as we know Mike Richards didn't do anything that violates his contract per it's terms... hense why it's being greived by the NHLPA.

[Flash Walken]

If the Kings are able to get out of this Richards contract due to some kind of technicality regarding the law and/or drug charges, I think you have a prime case to be made for another lockout.

This infringes on how guaranteed those contracts are and I think this is a hill the NHLPA would be willing to die on.

Huge ramifications for the future of the league.

[Ice]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Stoll was caught with an 8 ball of coke and over 8 grams of MDMA in gel caps form, which would probably be about 30ish caps since the recorded weight included the caps. He was originally charged with a felony.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...214816824.html

He plead guilty to those as misdemeanours because he got a wickedly good Vegas lawyer who was able to reduce it from a felony. That sounds like more then ''a couple pills in a bottle'' that Sureloss quoted. Maybe it's because of the State he was arrested in, I have no idea how it works in the USA. But seems to me Stoll got off much lighter even though he had much more in his possession.

I wouldn't assume the "source" quoting what was found is accurate. As much as this source's opinion is he had a few pills, my opinion is he may have had enough to make Stoll look like a minor league partier.

Think about it. Mike Richards gets stopped at the border like any normal person and ends up having his vehicle searched and all they find are a few pills? Logic says something led them to believe there was a reason to search that closely. It's not hard to get past border officers if you have a few pills hidden in your pocket. So there is a reason, be it an obvious sign of drugs or a reasonable suspicion based on information received, or communication from customs, that this particular person needed to be pulled aside and detained. That information to some degree may eventually come out and I suspect those stating there are just a few pills could be surprised.

As to Dean Lombardi being too loyal, I think there's merit there as a legitimate criticism. I think he would admit that. That's why he didn't give up on Richards two years ago and that's why he feels responsible for what Voynov did and has stated that he and the Kings organization failed to educate him. While these things may bite him in the ass, I hope he still treats players as real people and not just assets. Like I said before, he had opportunity to get rid of Richards with no penalty but gave him one last chance.

Lighter note, I'm just glad for the Flames fan in me that he wasn't traded here.

[Vulcan]

I don't know what will happen with Richards. It's fun surmising what's happened but we really don't know much.

I think Voynov will probably be traded. That's what teams seem to do with a player who is in some trouble but can't be gotten rid of otherwise. If you keep him it looks like you are condoning their actions.

[Passe La Puck]

Why do people keep saying the Kings were being classy not using their compliance buyout? They were being cheap! He would've got paid for not playing and could've signed with another team. Not using their compliance buyout was 100% selfish because they either thought he could be a good player or figured they could cheat their way out of cap and payout.