You could write countless articles and spend thousands of words trying to analyze the quick decline of Mike Richards. After arriving in Los Angeles, Richards’ offensive production slipped considerably. After averaging just over 72 points a season between 2007-08 and 2009-10, Richards averaged 39 a year with the Kings. One of those years you may be able to ignore due to the lockout, but his 2014-15 brought on new levels of disappointment. Richards tallied just 15 points through 47 games and earned a surprising demotion to the AHL.
The demotion was a big surprise, but it was even more shocking to see Richards pass through waivers and remain with the Kings beyond the trade deadline. Will Richards ever see the NHL again?
That was the question poised to Kings GM Dean Lombardi and his answer may offer some insight on Richards’ future.
Via Sportsnet.ca:
“We’re running him through some tests right now. I mean, the one thing about Michael everybody knows, when there’s big games or critical moments, he’s always there. And we just gotta get him up to that capacity to be able to do that…
But there’s very much a possibility he’ll be back.”
That’s not the most detailed of answers, but it’s clear the Kings haven’t completely ruled out bringing Richards back up to the NHL. At the very least, he would be an experienced option should the Kings suffer an untimely injury down the stretch.
Of course, the much larger issue is the fact the Kings are paying Richards a ton of money ($7 million this season) to skate in the AHL. The Kings will need to figure out a solution in regards to Richards as he’s still owed $6 million next year and then $5.75 million a year through 2019-20.
Even if Richards is able to return to the NHL at some point, it’ll be pretty difficult – if not impossible – to live up to the amount of money he is still owed.
