[News] Mike Richards on waivers - CLEARS

[AcGold]

Is Richards the worst contract that exists in the NHL? Is Wade Redden's still active?

If Richards is indeed as bad as many of are you saying (a 4th liner worth barely 1.5 million) and he is the one of the worst contracts around it would surely take one hell of an incentive to get the trade done.

[Ashasx]

Only contract I can think of as a comparable is Clarkson, but at least Clarkson makes 500k less. I believe the remaining term is the same.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Only contract I can think of as a comparable is Clarkson, but at least Clarkson makes 500k less. I believe the remaining term is the same.

What about the Lecavalier contract?? Wouldn't that perhaps be a comparable too?

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Karl

What about the Lecavalier contract?? Wouldn't that perhaps be a comparable too?

Only 3 years left after this and more than $1M AAV less, no?

Bad, but not nearly as bad.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Karl

What about the Lecavalier contract?? Wouldn't that perhaps be a comparable too?

LeCavalier was a compliance buyout. His contract doesn't really exist anymore, as far as cap hits go. Basically Tampa Bay gets to be the most OP team in the league and they got a get out of jail free card too on past blunders.

[H2SO4(aq)]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

And then we can't re-sign those players because for some reason we have Mike Richards' giant contract still on the books.

This likely has been brought up before in the thread but its too long for me to read it all.

what about this scenario, we trade for richards + ______ for cap dump etc but make LA retain say 1.5mill salary.

Does the retained 1.5 count against our cap or are we only using 4.25 of cap space?

or, we trade for richards and then proceed to send him to the AHL. What is our cap hit in that scenario? would it prevent us from signing everyone down the road?

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by H2SO4(aq)

This likely has been brought up before in the thread but its too long for me to read it all.

what about this scenario, we trade for richards + ______ for cap dump etc but make LA retain say 1.5mill salary.

Does the retained 1.5 count against our cap or are we only using 4.25 of cap space?

or, we trade for richards and then proceed to send him to the AHL. What is our cap hit in that scenario? would it prevent us from signing everyone down the road?

That means Richards would only count for 4.25 per year.

But honestly, that's still terrible.

If we send him to the AHL, I believe his cap hit would become 3.325 in that situation.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Mattman

That's when we force Mike Richards into retirement

Doesn't work like that anymore unfortunately (or fortunately),

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by mikephoen

Well it's documented that he was told to get in better shape in the summer, and he is having an even worse year now... so it's a fairly reasonable assumption. There aren't a lot of out of shape NHLers in the league at all, so it wouldn't take much of a slip up to drop to the bottom ranks.

That's a terrible assumption to make. I believe somebody posted an article from the view of a skills coach that Richards has always been a top 6 player who relies on his vision and instincts with skating as a general weakness. Those strengths aren't being played in the best scenario because of being put in a bottom 6 role, while at the same time his game is starting to fall apart because of age.

For a guy who had an extreme style, losing half a step was killer to his career. Let's not add to the whole "still out of shape" dialogue.

[The Original FFIV]

Eklund (yes, Eklund) has it as an e4 that Kings are close to acquiring d help.

Given he has some contacts within the Flyers organization, wonder if there is any chance that an Andrew MacDonald for Mike Richards swap could be in the works. Consider the fact that Hextall was in LA when they acquired Richards and MacDonald doesn't seem to be fitting in on the Flyers blueline, having been a healthy scratch at times this season. Contract duration is similar, both running five years after this. Hextall all about adding picks right now so LA could sweeten the pot if necessary to make the deal, and would probably cost a lot less given substanital salary headed back to LA.

Richards may bring some of that swagger back to Philly and LA gets d help. Richards does make $1m more than MacDonald cap wise so Philly might have to shed to make room. But may make sense for both teams to solve their respective problem.

[Aarongavey]

Why go for Richards in a trade when you could sign Horcoff for cheaper? Unlesss they sweeten the pot I say sign Horcoff, they are both diamonds in the rough just waiting to be discovered.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

LeCavalier was a compliance buyout. His contract doesn't really exist anymore, as far as cap hits go. Basically Tampa Bay gets to be the most OP team in the league and they got a get out of jail free card too on past blunders.

I'm sure they're talking about Vinny's current contract with the Flyers. Not the TB contract that was bought out.

[Delthefunky]

I'm sure it's over now, but wasn't Alexei Yashin still on the books for the Islanders not too long ago??

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Why go for Richards in a trade when you could sign Horcoff for cheaper? Unlesss they sweeten the pot I say sign Horcoff, they are both diamonds in the rough just waiting to be discovered.

Because Horcoff wouldn't come with a first round pick or Tyler Toffoli. That is the ONLY reason anyone is excited about the rumour.

Give your fellow posters some credit; everyone knows Mike Richards is past his prime. Everyone knows he's overpaid.

Since that windbag Francis has been quoted & sourced in all major news outlets about this I think there is about 0% chance of this deal going down. LA isn't going to want to strengthen a direct rival.

[mennoknight]

Originally Posted by Delthefunky

I'm sure it's over now, but wasn't Alexei Yashin still on the books for the Islanders not too long ago??

Pretty sure he's making $2.2M this year, but it's the final one. Bought out in 2007 with an 8 year payplan.

[Thor]

lol on sportnets FB page, GUYS we're idiots for not wanting Richards!

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Thor

lol on sportnets FB page, GUYS we're idiots for not wanting Richards!

So moon has resorted to FB after being banned from CP. Good to know.

[Thor]

lol! Oh man would be awesome if it was really Moon.

[UKflames]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Eklund (yes, Eklund) has it as an e4 that Kings are close to acquiring d help.

Given he has some contacts within the Flyers organization, wonder if there is any chance that an Andrew MacDonald for Mike Richards swap could be in the works. Consider the fact that Hextall was in LA when they acquired Richards and MacDonald doesn't seem to be fitting in on the Flyers blueline, having been a healthy scratch at times this season. Contract duration is similar, both running five years after this. Hextall all about adding picks right now so LA could sweeten the pot if necessary to make the deal, and would probably cost a lot less given substanital salary headed back to LA.

Richards may bring some of that swagger back to Philly and LA gets d help. Richards does make $1m more than MacDonald cap wise so Philly might have to shed to make room. But may make sense for both teams to solve their respective problem.

Didn't Richards get traded away from Philly? I am not sure I can see them welcoming him back but stranger things have happened.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Karl

The prospect cupboard is no longer bare. The Flames now have some of the better rated prospects in their system and have a large number of them too. They are no longer desperate for a lot of good young players or prospects. There is NO NEED for the Flames to do this.

We're in year two of the rebuild. The Flames have some nice pieces, but there's a long way to go before they have a young roster that can contend for the Cup. I want more blue-chip prospects, more 1st round picks, more bullets in the chamber. A propsect like Kempe and another 1st rounder in a deep draft year would turbo-charge the rebuild.

We've heard all about using cap space to gain assets. Well, I doubt a more desperate trade partner will come along anytime soon.