Mike Richards spent six seasons as a member - and several as the captain - of the Philadephia Flyers before moving onto the Los Angeles Kings via trade just before the 2011-12 season. In Los Angeles, he has played as part of a team that has seen an amazing run of sustained success, culminating in two Stanley Cup Championships.
Now, word has emerged from Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie of TSN via Mike Halford of NBC Sports' ProHockeyTalk that Richards could again be on the move, to what would be his third NHL destination.
The Kings, facing a desperate cap situation with defenseman Slava Voynov suspended indefinitely - with pay - by the league after he was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault, could be looking to move a piece or two in order to find the financial relief that the league has yet to provide.
"I don't think the notion they might be prepared to part with him is necessarily performance-related as much as it is reality-related," McKenzie said on TSN 1050 radio. "And that is on a team that's got Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter and Jarret Stoll as your top three centers."
"Do you have room for a guy making that kind of money as arguably a fourth-line center?"
The Kings have a plethora of quality centers in their lineup, making Richards an expensive and somewhat unnecessary piece - he is halfway through a 12-year, $69 million deal that carries a $5.75 million cap hit.
There was talk of a potential buyout for Richards last summer after he was relegated to fourth-line duty during the Stanley Cup Final, but Kings GM Dean Lombardi eventually came out and squashed those rumors - a decision that came with the understanding that Richards would "make some adjustments to his off-season training."
He currently has seven points in 15 games this season, but he's seeing only 15:17 of ice time on average.
Still, trading Richards would be more about money than his performance. Fourth-line centers, even ones as expensive as Richards, are rarely as tough, productive or capable.
