Los Angeles Kings Re-Call Mike Richards From AHL

The Los Angeles Kings announced on Sunday afternoon that they have re-called Center Mike Richards from the American Hockey League.

The announcement was made by Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi via the Kings website.

Richards was sent down to the Kings AHL affiliate the Manchester Monarchs seven weeks ago. His last game with the Kings was January 21st, in a 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks.

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Richards has played in 47 games with the Kings this season tallying 5 goals, 10 assists, 15 points, -7 plus/minus, 1 power-play goal, and 1 game-winning goal.

In 16 games with the Monarchs Richards scored 3 goals, 11 assists, 14 points, a +6 rating and 1 power-play goal.

Part of the reason Richards was sent down was because the Kings were struggling with salary cap problems.

Richards has an NHL cap-hit of $5.75 million. According to sportrac.com Richards “buried” AHL cap-hit is $1.95 million.

The Kings currently have $2.75 million in free cap space.

Now that it’s past the trade deadline the Kings will have to move some players around to make room for Richards.

The most likely reason for Richards return is the Kings scoring woes.

Dec 12, 2014; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Los Angeles Kings center Mike Richards (10) celebrates a teammate defenseman Drew Doughty (8) (not pictured) goal against Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) and defenseman Sergei Gonchar (55) during the third period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

Richards has a long relationship and great chemistry with the Kings leading scorer Jeff Carter. The two former Philadelphia Flyer stars were reunited when the Kings acquired Carter from the Columbus Blue Jackets for defensemen Jack Johnson and a 1st round draft pick.

The two each won their first Stanley Cup, along with the L.A. Kings franchise in 2012.

After a stint in the AHL the Kings brain-trust must be assuming Richards has cleaned up his game and he’s ready to contribute again.

This off-season Richards trained in the renowned Gary Roberts Fitness Institute.

Roberts has trained many of the NHL’s up-and-comers and current stars. Players such as Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, and Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Steven Stamkos are regular attendees.

Hold on to your money parents, you may want to look into this camp a littler deeper before sending junior off with the hopes of propelling him into Junior hockey.

Apparently the program doesn’t work for everyone. Before being sent down Richards was on pace for career lows.

It’s certainly going to be a controversial move for fans of the KingsNation. Only time will tell if it’s the right one.

For a final comment consider this: Richards knows how to win. He’s a veteran player. He’s been in a leadership role before, and many players of the current Kings roster know and trust Richards. The team has chemistry with him.

At the very least bringing Richards back into the locker room will boost the morale of a team that’s started to return to their inconsistent up-down-up-down winning/losing streaks.

Richards was a part of both Los Angeles Stanley Cup winning teams in 2012 and 2014.

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May 14, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings centers Jeff Carter (77) and Mike Richards (10) react during game six of the second round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Anaheim Ducks at Staples Center. The Kings defeated the Ducks 2-1 to tie the series 3-3. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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