- Elliotte Friedman: The LA Kings have put Mike Richards on waivers.
- John Hoven: The Kings had been working on multiple deals that involved Richards over the weekend. The last one fell through last night.
- Rich Hammond: The bottom line is that you can’t have that much of a cap hit as your fourth-line center for the next six years. GM Dean Lombardi could have cut him loose last June.
- Pierre LeBrun: The Kings tried to find trade interest over the past month, which included teams like the Maple Leafs and Jets.
- John Hoven: The benefits of putting him on waivers: “1) sends clear msg to the room 2) gives Lombardi cap room that he really didnt have (cant spend the Voynov $)”
- David Pagnotta: The Kings and Leafs trade talks involving Richards had died down recently. They were talking though.
- Pierre LeBrun: Maple Leafs source saying they will NOT put in a claim for Richards.
The 29-year old Richards carries a $5.75 mill cap hit for five more seasons after this one. He has salaries of $6 million, $5.5 million, $4.5 million, $3 million and $3 million. His salary is $7 million this year.
If Richards is sent to the minors, only $925,000 would come off the Kings cap number. $4.825 million would remain on the cap.
The Kings had an opportunity last offseason to use a compliance buyout on Richards but chose not too.
On June 23rd, 2011, the Philadelphia Flyers traded Richards and prospect Rob Bordson to the Kings for Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and a 2012 2nd round pick.