Richards on Waivers for Buy Out

[ouendan1]

Tis the end of Richards in LA. Thanks for everything that you brought to the table, even if your game went south.

 

[CaptHowdy00]

Breaking News: Kings buyout former superstar!

Finally, should have been done a year earlier so it wouldn't count towards the cap.

 

[davnlaguna]

A year too late

 

[CaptHowdy00]

The only other people upstanding question is, what effect is this going to have on his BFF Carter?

 

[Kings4OT]

Carter is a professional and has played without his bff before, really the only person he can be mad at is Richards....they could have had a long run together

 

[ChiefsDdgersLakersKings24]

Richards contract has been terminated.
Jon Rosen ‏@lakingsinsider 3m3 minutes ago
#LAKings announce they have terminated the contract of Mike Richards... Via Kings release: “The Los Angeles Kings today have exercised the team’s right to terminate the contract of Mike Richards for a material...Kings, 2/3: ..breach of the requirements of his Standard Player’s Contract. We are not prepared to provide any more detail or to discuss...Kings, 3/3: ...the underlying grounds for the contract termination at this time.”

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Interesting - keep in a mind a terminated contract is not a buy out. A terminated contract means just that, it is terminated and not one penny of it is on the books.

Dumbo is citing something specific regarding the termination but obviously doesn't want to disclose it. It will come out in time but the angle they have taken is Richards did not fulfill his part of the deal.

This is totally legal, if there is just cause. This is about to get messy with the NHL, NHLPA, LA and Richards' agency, Newport Sports Management Inc.

 

[smackdown380]

Thanks Puck, you answered my question I was about to post. Smart move by Dean though I wonder if Richards had any idea this was coming. Interesting note here, I do remember Richards not staying in LA to train which is what some are hinting at could be the reason for the breach of contract.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

One more thing to consider, in the case of a terminated contract, the only resolution is Arbitration per the CBA (to keep teams and players from taking it to a federal court and suing the crap out of each other). Guess who the arbitrator would be?

Bettman...and he loooooooooves LA.

 

[smackdown380]

Another interesting twist is that if this backfires on the Kings:

 

[davnlaguna]

I think it would have to be more than, " hey Mikey, can you stick around and do some work here?"
Mike: No. I will do what I do every year
Dean:
Mike:
Dean: now you're fucked out of 6mil
Mike: What?

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I suspected a termination would have to do with his training since it has come under fire at times during his career not just in LA but in Philadelphia too.

If he truly was asked to stay in LA, and he refused, he just shot himself in the foot and the Kings jumped on that opportunity to use the termination and not get hit with a 10 year buyout.

Some will say it's cap circumvention, others will say it was shrewd and others will say it was nothing short of fortunate if that is what happened.

Bottom line is a termination is legal in the CBA, it is specifically mentioned vs. other things NOT mentioned in the CBA (these front loaded contracts under the old CBA for example) so the Kings used a tool that was available to them. They didn't break any laws or use what's not in the CBA to get around terms.

The key here is though there will need to be concrete proof to justify this. If not, the Kings are going to be heavily dinged like NJ was several years ago for the Kovalchuk mess.

 

[ChiefsDdgersLakersKings24]

Another interesting twist is that if this backfires on the Kings:

I have to think they wouldn't do this without just cause and risk screwing themselves.

 

[smackdown380]

Agreed, I don't think Dean I am sure thought this through and knew what his plan was all along. Never tipped his hat this was an option, somewhat genius.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I have to think they wouldn't do this without just cause and risk screwing themselves.

Definitely, this is serious stuff. There must be way more to this than we know.

Playing devil's advocate here, this situation has to be resolved a year from when the player is first notified of a termination. In this case this can drag on until June 29 2016. Lawyers are notorious for filing stays, continuances, etc. but with no immediate resolution the Kings cannot be held liable for anything (read as : Mike Richards' cap hit) until that resolution occurs. That's called the legal process.

If that happens, the Kings just bought themselves at least a year of no Richards on the books and freed up $5.75 million for a solid UFA signing. Sekera should be no problem now.

 

[smackdown380]

There are rumors swirling about how no one can comment or details cannot be made public. I wonder if there is any connection to his partying habits or even maybe connected to Stoll.

 

[smackdown380]

Definitely, this is serious stuff. There must be way more to this than we know.

Playing devil's advocate here, this situation has to be resolved a year from when the player is first notified of a termination. In this case this can drag on until June 29 2016. Lawyers are notorious for filing stays, continuances, etc. but with no immediate resolution the Kings cannot be held liable for anything (read as : Mike Richards' cap hit) until that resolution occurs. That's called the legal process.

If that happens, the Kings just bought themselves at least a year of no Richards on the books and freed up $5.75 million for a solid UFA signing. Sekera should be no problem now.

Puck, the flip side to the legal process is if Mike Richards were to appeal and win, he could ask for repayment of lost wages (salary) and therefore the Kings would be paying even more at a later time?

 

[PuckinUgly57]

There are rumors swirling about how no one can comment or details cannot be made public. I wonder if there is any connection to his partying habits or even maybe connected to Stoll.

Possible but being drunk on occasion or whatever is soft and won't hold up. There has some be something of substance to have taken it down this road.

Interesting you bring up Stoll and the drugs (I'm assuming). If Richards had some habits and the Kings turned a blind eye because he was performing it's one thing. It's a loyalty business and GMs do that, they have forever. Now if Richards has some habits and his play goes down the toilet, like it has, the Kings can no longer sit there and cover for him.

They have to do something to get cap relief, the legal definition of contract means both parties must hold their end of the deal up.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Puck, the flip side to the legal process is if Mike Richards were to appeal and win, he could ask for repayment of lost wages (salary) and therefore the Kings would be paying even more at a later time?

Yes, also another scenario I thought of. What if this is an inside deal between Richards and the Dumbo? We're going to terminate your contract to get cap relief, you will appeal, you will win because our just cause was not enough and instead of getting the $14.67 million on a buyout we will give you $20 million for taking the heat and none of it counts on the books.

Conspiracy theory, I know it but $20 million in cash is nothing for AEG.

 

[smackdown380]

Oh that is fascinating, didn't think of it that way, in my scenario I assumed it would still count against the cap. B