Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Sutter on Richards: His only reward is winning

2014 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game One

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 04: Mike Richards #10 of the Los Angeles Kings looks on while taking o the New York Rangers during Game One of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the Staples Center on June 4, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Getty Images

It’s been brought up in the past: talk of a summer buyout for L.A. Kings center Mike Richards.

He’s got six years remaining in a massive 12-year, $69 million deal, according to Capgeek.com, that he signed when he was still a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. Yet, he’s only scored twice in these playoffs, and has nine points in 22 post-season games, including Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

He’s also averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time in these playoffs. So, given his stats and his salary, it’s easy to look to him as a buyout possibility. But Kings head coach Darryl Sutter doesn’t seem to buy into it. Richards also has a track record for winning, whether it’s in the NHL, or for Team Canada in the Olympic and World Junior Championships, or in the Ontario Hockey League.

And the Kings are now three wins away from winning the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years.

“I don’t think it’s very hard at all when you have a good relationship with players and you’ve had a track record of winning with those players. That player has a track record of winning and for sure understanding what his role is. Basically he just wins,” Sutter told reporters.

“He’s had to accept roles. Doesn’t matter if you think he’s a first line centerman or second line centerman. The only reward for somebody like Mike Richards in all this is just winning. He’s all set. He’s won everything. It’s just winning again, that’s all.”

Follow @CamTucker_Metro