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

[codynw]

I heard Mike Richards watches and genuinely enjoys new episodes of The Simpsons.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by cannon7

I heard Richards yelled racial epithets at the audience at an L.A. comedy club -- oh, wait, that was the other Michael Richards.

Yeah, but who has never done that?

[Cflames_12.5]

Maybe Richards was in Vegas with Stoll.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Certainly a myriad of "jumping to conclusions" going on here.

Im curious if anyone has any real idea what the claim is from the Kings?

Oh, this is nothing compared to elsewhere. Sufficed to say, CP's rules preclude where people on forums like Reddit are going.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by Brewmaster

Is Richards really not attempting to live up to his contract? From the outside, I see a good hockey player that peaked early in his career. Maybe he's not the fittest guy but the suggestions that he is grossly out of shape or overweight don't seem to be based on specific evidence. I see him as more of a Cheechoo or Redden, but signed to a much longer contract when he was on top of his game.

Considering other teams haven't been able to pull this off until now, I assume there is a substantial reason for the Kings being allowed to void the contract.

[united]

TSN's legal analyst...wonder if McKenzie or Dreger floated the reason to him:

Eric Macramalla @EricOnSportsLaw
If my information is indeed accurate on reason for terminating #MikeRichards deal, it's still doesn't seem to be enough of a reason.

Yes I've been told possible reason for terminating Mike Richards deal. Just can't confirm accuracy so won't share.

You can bet your house Fehr will grieve. #MikeRichards #Kings

It is only under EXCEPTIONAL circumstances that a contract can be terminated. Very hard to terminate and survive grievance.

[cannon7]

Can the mods please ban those chastising others for speculating on an internet message board? They failed at the internet.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by cannon7

Can the mods please ban those chastising others for speculating on an internet message board? They failed at the internet.

Ummm no.

[cannon7]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Ummm no.

I don't do green text.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by united

TSN's legal analyst...wonder if McKenzie or Dreger floated the reason to him:

Eric Macramalla @EricOnSportsLaw
If my information is indeed accurate on reason for terminating #MikeRichards deal, it's still doesn't seem to be enough of a reason.

Yes I've been told possible reason for terminating Mike Richards deal. Just can't confirm accuracy so won't share.

You can bet your house Fehr will grieve. #MikeRichards #Kings

It is only under EXCEPTIONAL circumstances that a contract can be terminated. Very hard to terminate and survive grievance.

Good.

[Benched]

If it's for overpaying a player that was good, and has failed to live up to the level of play they expected....

There are a lot of teams that want to also do the same thing. Philly-Lecavalier comes to mind.


He'd better have failed the drug&alcohol policy of the league and they are being vague to protect his reputation.

And that's why the league is allowing this.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

looking it up I believe

recapture cap hit for Richards would be 5 years of $1.32 mil

compared to his buyout that would have been
$1,216,666
$1,716,666
$2,716,666
$4,216,666
$4,216,666
$1,466,666
$1,466,666
$1,466,666
$1,466,666
$1,466,666

still a huge benefit for the Kings

Which is what I hate. Either they trade him or buy him out. He signed an NHL contract. This terminating contract crap cannot happen, it's so unfair to all 29 other teams. I hope the Devils complain about their penalization.

[SuperMatt18]

Yeah crazy to think they didn't go this route with Voynov.

I would actually be fine with that contract being terminated.

IMO looks bad on the organization to not try to terminate Voynov (since he can still contribute), but go that route with Richards for a much smaller issue just to get out of the cap dump.

[Weitz]

It would be silly to think LA didn't discuss this wih lawyers and figured they had a really good case to successfully going this route.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Weitz

It would be silly to think LA didn't discuss this wih lawyers and figured they had a really good case to successfully going this route.

Or maybe they thought "what do we have to lose?"

[Timbo]

So is a material breach spliting your pants from the crotch to the arse?

Seems kinda harsh for that.

[cannon7]

In what way does a material breach protect Richards' reputation? Now the entire league is going to be speculating as to which clause the Kings allege he breached. It better be a legit reason or else Richards is potentially incurring further damages. This whole thing stinks.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Or maybe they though "what do we have to lose?"

And in the meantime they get to sign someone else and spend the money. Maybe it takes until December for this to twist through the courts, who knows? By then they'll have had services of someone for 25 games and maybe make a decision on how to get compliant at that point.

Sure, it could be quick, but like you say, what do they have to lose if it isn't?

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Or maybe they though "what do we have to lose?"

When you look at the buyout vs cap recapture costs, the hit next year is actually higher for the recapture penalty than the buyout.

Pending the outcome of a PA appeal, they can plan for next year with $1.32M coming off their cap. If the PA wins, the cap hit against Richards' contract would actually go down for next season (although it would be much higher long-term, and cost the Kings a lot more in real dollars out the door).

So, really they do have nothing to lose.

[Coach]

It is my understanding that Mike Richards is a Belieber.