[News] Mike Richards on waivers - CLEARS

[PeteLFan]

Originally Posted by DJones

Just got a notification on my phone that Calgary is in talks. Sounds super cereal.

Any of Raymond, Engellend, Bollig and a first I'd be super pumped on. I have trouble disliking Stajan so not sure if I want him gone.

That alert is bunk, it cites Eric Francis as the source.

Eric Francis is terrible, and he took it to another level earlier this season when he took pretty harsh personal shots at Dennis Wideman for no reason other then him being paid what he gets. At that point he should have been removed from ever being a "analyst" for the Flames, not sure how he remains on Sportsnet, The Sun and 960 its a joke.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Igster

Huh?

cereal= serious + for real it is a south park word

[GioforPM]

Have any of the actual reports even mentioned a first round pick or is this pure invention?

[Stay Golden]

Richards is under contract until 2020 @ 5.75m per. Treliving would be of his meds to take that stupid contract on and a player that is almost washed up right now.

[Karl]

Can't believe some of you people still have any interest in this.

Even with compensation pieces like a 1st + prospect the risk is too much for that STUPID Richards contract. Ridiculous. Not worth it at all.

Just let the Kings deal with that abomination of a contract and choke on it FFS.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Have any of the actual reports even mentioned a first round pick or is this pure invention?

I think someone in the media may have mentioned a 1st round pick, but at this point there has been so much discussion on it, it is getting hard to shift through what people are actually hearing from legitimate sources and who is just going off someone's speculation.

[Redmonster]

Mike Richards is not joining the Flames. Francis just rehashed the same info that LeBrun and McKenzie already reported earlier this week. Francis is just late to the party as always, so it might seem like new information to some.
I don't see these teams as trading partners for the time being, based on the standings. I doubt either team wants to risk helping the other at this time. I also doubt Calgary would give anything in value to make this deal happen either.
Do we really want a guy that not even Edmonton would claim for free?

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by Robo

don't want stajan gone

why not?

4th line center who gets paid too much for his role abdndigned long term. Richards has the potential playoffs experience to at least help this team make it going forward. Stajan just is what he is, if this can getvus out of the Engelland contract, they should do it.

[Imported_Aussie]

The way I see any deal for Richards is that Calgary has to achieve two things:
1. Address a positional need (RW, RD) with a player with upside

2. Also, since this is adding a big cap hit to the books for seasons where that could impact the Flames' planning (16/17 offseason, re-upping Giordano, Gaudreau, Monahan, and Hudler if he is to stay with the team), then a player being paid in that season moving out is preferable too (Stajan, Raymond, Smid, Engelland, Bollig - Wideman is too useful to move)


So from the Flames perspective, to acquire "Richards + " the "+" needs to be a young player in a position of need (Toffoli, Shore, etc.) and they need to shed at least one of Raymond/Stajan/Smid/Engelland. Throwing Bollig on top might work, as even if he is buried, the cap hit would only work out to be 325K, but he may even be useful to the way LA plays.



If the trade was something like:

Richards + 1st ('15) (or Toffoli)

for

Smid (or Raymond) + Bollig + mid-level prospect (Agostino?)


then how would people feel?


I am not sure if can be done, but Richards is only worth taking on if the Flames can both add a young player in a positional need, and at the same time, shed a lesser contract, making room for a young guy to make the jump

[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by DropIt

why not?

4th line center who gets paid too much for his role abdndigned long term. Richards has the potential playoffs experience to at least help this team make it going forward. Stajan just is what he is, if this can getvus out of the Engelland contract, they should do it.

Stajan is overpaid? What do you think Richards would be if he were brought in? At best he'd be replacing Stajan on the 4th line for way more money. Richards would not be a top 6 guy on this team. I'd rather have Stajan on this team than Richards with all his playoff experience.

[Cflames_12.5]

IF LA is retaining some of his salary. And somehow we can get a nice piece coming back like a first rounder or a good prospect why not do the deal. I'm not good at making up trade offers but here I go. Stajan plus B lvl prospect for Richards(retained salary to match Stajan salary) and plus pick and or prospect.

I like Ragin Stajan but I think Richards is an upgrade. That's just my opinion I know it's not the popular one.

[GranteedEV]

then how would people feel?

I would feel that in trading a pair of bad 2-3 year contracts for a much worst five year contract, we got robbed. I can only point to the 2010 Blackhawks and how they couldn't keep Byfuglien around. I'd hate more than anything to be unable to keep a guy like Bennett around. While a Toffoli would be nice, if you can't hold the team together then what's the point?

Stajan's our longest-term vet contract, and its cap hit is half of Richards. He's a guy who's perfectly fine with his 4th line role (and he's been very good at it too).

The other bad contracts - Raymond, Bollig, Smid, Engelland - are going to be easier to move individually near their final year than to put up as collateral right now. It's possible some of those guys can even be moved for 5th rounders right now.

As for "PO Experience"... Wideman, Hiller, and Hudler have all been pretty deep, and they can actually still play. I'm not convinced Richards would get a roster spot over Stajan right now. The guy just got waived for a reason, and I wouldn't take L.A.'s bottom-end centre depth over CGY's. Don't discount that Hartley and Gelinas have championship experience too.

[GioforPM]

The Flames have a few guys with PO experience, and a couple rings. Mind you, a couple are CP whipping boys.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by DropIt

why not?

4th line center who gets paid too much for his role abdndigned long term. Richards has the potential playoffs experience to at least help this team make it going forward. Stajan just is what he is, if this can getvus out of the Engelland contract, they should do it.

... and then next year you'll be discussing how the Flames can get out of Richards' contract. Engelland's contract isn't going to handcuff the Flames from making any moves. Richards' contract is for more money and a longer term. His contract will handcuff a team.

Maybe not this year, but going forward Richards would also be the 4th line center on the Flames. So why get out of Stajan's contract for a guy who makes more for longer term.

I'm not following what you're saying.

[Poe969]

If Stajan and Richards had the same term and contract dollars left, you'd have to take Richards. He's just a better option. The thing is they don't have the same contract, so we'd have to figure out how much compensation it would be worth to take up that contract. Richards has more playoff experience and has won at different levels and I think Hartley may be able to light a fire under his arse and make him work harder. Stajan is at about the same level as Richards right now and he has Hartley as a coach...

The biggest issue is that contract and how much it's worth to another team. We need to expose that weakness and get some assets while moving some bad contracts of our own. If they won't pay the Flames what they're asking and won't take back any of the Flames bad contracts than they can keep Richards but you have to admit that Richards is a better player than Stajan.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

The Flames have a few guys with PO experience, and a couple rings. Mind you, a couple are CP whipping boys.

Probably because happening to have those two things doesn't automatically mean you're awesome.

[foshizzle11]

I still don't understand why people would want to help the Kings out with this. Let them keep Richards and his cap hit for the full 5 years. It will cause them problems for years to come.

If we get a top rated prospect out of it and they retain half his salary then I would consider it but only if we move out a piece and it makes sense that it would be a guy like Stajan, I love the guy but we can't keep him and make room for Richards IMO.

[GioforPM]

I can admit Richards was a better player than Stajan. I don't know that this is the case now. Their stats are quite similar except Stajan has a better faceoff percentage now. Someone once said " you are what your record says you are" and it's arguably the same for stats. Last head to head matchup between the KIngs and Flames, Stajan was the better player IMO. I can't remember the previous ones.

Why is this? Richards has reportedly not taken care of himself whereas Stajan reportedly is a fitness guy. Keep in mind that, in Richards, we are talking about a guy who has been sent to the AHL to "find his game". They didn't need to send him down after waiving him, and he doesn't come off their books by doing so, so it wasn't just a salary move.

[Dan02]

5 more seasons at 5.75?

I guess how much LA plans on having to give up depends on if they're willing to keep a large chunk of the salary. If they don't want to keep anything then yeah they're going to be giving up something like Toffoli.

If they keep half and take a shorter term dump back then maybe they can work something reasonable out.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by nik-

Probably because happening to have those two things doesn't automatically mean you're awesome.

I know - I was just responding to the posts about Richards bringing PO experience. And the ones about his cup wins.