Capped: The Kings’ Tarnished Gold

Chris Pudsey

2015-02-05

MikeRichards

 

The fall of Mike Richards and why the Kings aren’t as rich as they thought they were.

 

Late in January, the LA Kings placed Mike Richards on waivers, hoping and praying someone would claim him and his $5.75M cap hit for five more years after this one. I have no doubt that a few teams looked long and hard at Richards, but in the end he passed through waivers and was sent to the Kings AHL franchise in Manchester. In hindsight, Kings GM Dean Lombardi did something he rarely does; he made a serious mistake in roster management. Lombardi had the chance in the off-season to use his compliance buyout on Richards but he opted to keep his Stanley Cup winning group together. Now, with Richards cap hit still burning hot against the Kings cap while he tries to find his game in the AHL, the Kings have some even tougher decisions to make as they worry about the NHL salary cap number and where it may possibly be next year. The fluctuating Canadian dollar is going to make it almost impossible to determine next year's NHL salary cap number any time soon. This is no doubt causing Lombardi some sleepless nights right now.

 

Lombardi will get some slack cut for making that mistake; after all, his Kings have won two of the past three Stanley Cups. It's not like he's in jeopardy of losing his job or anything crazy like that. That being said, Lombardi has a big jigsaw puzzle sitting in front of him as he looks at his roster past this season. What pieces fit and what pieces do not. Yes, Richards is a piece that doesn't seem to fit but another confusing piece is Slava Voynov and his legal issues. Currently, the NHL has granted the Kings a long term injury exception, basically cap relief, for an indefinite period of time but at some point in time this will come back around. Voynov has a cap hit of $4.167M for four more years after this one. There may be a chance, should he be found guilty of his domestic violence charge, that his contract could be voided by the NHL and worst case scenario, he could even face deportation. There's no doubt the Kings would much rather have him playing then seeing that happen but considering the recent bad publicity around other high profile athletes and their domestic violence issues, this is a public relations nightmare that the Kings may well want to avoid if possible. 

 

As I type this, looking forward to the 2015/16 season, the Kings have right around $57M already spent towards next year's cap. Guys like Dustin Brown ($5.875M, seven years), Jeff Carter ($5.273M, seven years), Marian Gaborik ($4.875M, six years), Dwight King ($1.95M, one year), Mike Richards ($5.75M, five years), Drew Doughty ($7M, four years), Matt Greene ($2.5M, three years), Alec Martinez ($4M, six years), Jake Muzzin ($4M, five years) and Jonathan Quick ($5.8M, eight years) are all signed long term. Anze Kopitar has one year left on his current deal and after July 1st, the Kings can start to work on a new long term extension for him. I am sure this is already in the back of Lombardi's head as he is working on his puzzle. Other depth players like Trevor Lewis ($1.525M) and Brayden McNabb ($0.65M) also have one year remaining on their current deals.

 

 

What about Jeff Carter or Marian Gaborik? Could one of these two players be on the move sooner than expected? Unfortunately, Lombardi may have to take a serious look at both of these guys and their contracts. It would be naïve to think that either is "untouchable" on this roster all things considered. 

 

He could also consider moving some of his pending FA's for cheaper options.

 

The long and short of it, if no moves are made and if the cap does in fact go up to somewhere around the $71M – $73M (the latest projected numbers flowing out there), Lombardi will have somewhere around $15 – $17M to spend on his seven pending players. That's not a lot of money so something is going to have to give. Lombardi is arguably one of the savvier GM's in hockey today and he has to be to win two Stanley Cups in three years but right now the Kings are on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff picture, currently five points out of the wild card spot. I realize the Kings also tend to rope-a-dope their way through the regular season and then flip their switch once they slide into the playoffs, but this year could be different. Twenty of the thirty-three remaining games for the Kings are on the road and the Kings have been dreadful on the road this year (5-10-6). It's looking more and more like Lombardi needs to start focusing on next year more than the playoffs. This would put Lombardi and the Kings in a position at this time of year that they are not used to; selling instead of buying.  The big question will be, who's staying and who's going?

 

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Feel free to follow me on twitter: @chrispudsey

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