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Kings forgo buyout, terminate Richards' contract

Bates said:
Wouldn't be surprised to see him take a discount and sign in Winnipeg.  He likes the area and his family is nearby as well as significant other is a medical student there.
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What would be a discount for a guy who scored 5 goals in 53 games?
 
It's not hard to find players with that level of production on most teams earning $2 million plus per year and rarely with multiple Cup Rings. I could see him taking around $1 million to go home.
wnc096 said:
Bates said:
Wouldn't be surprised to see him take a discount and sign in Winnipeg.  He likes the area and his family is nearby as well as significant other is a medical student there.
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What would be a discount for a guy who scored 5 goals in 53 games?
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O...kay?

The Los Angeles Kings have terminated the contract of forward Mike Richards, the club announced today.

The club has issued the following statement and will not comment any further at this time:

?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. We are not prepared to provide any more detail or to discuss the underlying grounds for the contract termination at this time.?
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http://kings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=772865
 
Potvin29 said:
O...kay?

The Los Angeles Kings have terminated the contract of forward Mike Richards, the club announced today.

The club has issued the following statement and will not comment any further at this time:

?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. We are not prepared to provide any more detail or to discuss the underlying grounds for the contract termination at this time.?
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http://kings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=772865
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I just saw this....what?  Hunh?  How?
 
I wonder what Richards did and, more importantly, if we could trick Joffrey Lupul into doing it too.
 
Pretty convenient timing on this huh. I don't see it sticking.

Wonder if this backfires on them. Say Richards grieves this and then wins. The NHL might say LA can't buy him out because the window would have closed. Then they're stuck with him for another season.
 
Patrick said:
You have to think they have a slam dunk case against him, there is no way they would risk this otherwise.
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Why not? If they get grieved and ruled against, I don't think there are definite penalties to it. I mean, if they fail they might just be right where they are now anyway.
 
Patrick said:
You have to think they have a slam dunk case against him, there is no way they would risk this otherwise.
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Or they could be just pissed about whatever he did or didn't do, and they want to drag him through the legal system a bit and expose it before they pay him.
 
Nik the Trik said:
Why not? If they get grieved and ruled against, I don't think there are definite penalties to it. I mean, if they fail they might just be right where they are now anyway.
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The Kings are under the impression that Richards' cap hit is completely off their books. If Richards decides to fight this, a resolution definitely won't be coming before July 1st. So what happens if LA spends that money and someone rules in Richards' favour? The Kings can't buy him out and they'll probably be over the salary cap. This is a pretty risky move unless LA is 100% sure they're in the right.
 
Couple of things I have heard:
1.  There is a clause in the CBA that allows termination of player contract if they pass waivers and have broken the clubs training/conduct policy.
2.  If Richards fights this, the arbitrator is Bettman.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
The Kings are under the impression that Richards' cap hit is completely off their books. If Richards decides to fight this, a resolution definitely won't be coming before July 1st. So what happens if LA spends that money and someone rules in Richards' favour? The Kings can't buy him out and they'll probably be over the salary cap. This is a pretty risky move unless LA is 100% sure they're in the right.
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I assume you just don't spend that money then. Still seems worth a shot if you can save 15 million dollars.
 
Patrick said:
You have to think they have a slam dunk case against him, there is no way they would risk this otherwise.
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Possibly. But real life has shown there is often a difference between having a slam dunk case and believing you do.
 
From what McKenzie is tweeting, the league and the Kings are saying he's done and off the books, and basically, "sue me." 

@TSNBobMcKenzie
As far as NHL and LAK concerned, Kings are free of obligation to Richards and he's off LA cap, player eligible to sign anywhere.
 
If I recall - didn't the Leafs do something similar with Owen Nolan coming out of the 2005 lockout?  I think they had an agreement with the league that if it was found that they couldn't terminate the contract, they would buy him out...
 
Bullfrog said:
Patrick said:
You have to think they have a slam dunk case against him, there is no way they would risk this otherwise.
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Possibly. But real life has shown there is often a difference between having a slam dunk case and believing you do.
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Right? That was the Balsillie thing you heard so much. "He wouldn't take on the NHL if he didn't know he could win".
 
I thought it was odd that Lombardi has been so candid about Richards recently.  But then I found this from about a year ago, when he was considering a buyout:

Richards, who turned 29 in February, told Lombardi that he realized he would have to make some adjustments in his off-season training, the general manager said.

"He was very candid," Lombardi said Friday during an interview in his office. "The most important thing is he realized he wasn't anywhere near where he is capable of being. If he's telling you, 'Well, I was good.' Then you've got a big problem. If he's not able to critique himself, then we're wasting our time.

"But he freely admitted that it was nowhere near where he was capable, and the root is not age or injury. It starts with the understanding that I've got to prepare like a 28- or 29-year-old, not a 22-year-old.

"As long as he looked me in the eye and made that promise that he would make the commitment in the off-season.? Essentially, I have to trust him. Once that deadline goes, we're locked in."

So can not keeping your promise to train  like a 29-year-old really be enough to terminate a contract?
 
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