Bullet Dodged: Flames Didn’t Trade For Mike Richards
By Ryan Pike
8 years agoThe latest edition of Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts brought with it a bit of an interesting news item from the recent past.
While Mike Richards is currently jobless following the termination of his contract by the Los Angeles Kings (and the ensuing settlement negotiations), before he was arrested at the Canadian border and fell into this whole mess he was offered to a few teams.
Among them? The Flames.
1. Richards’ next court date is Dec. 8, so his future remains unclear. But he is an unrestricted free agent, and there is interest. He doesn’t turn 31 until February and it was his contract — not his play — that prevented other clubs from taking him. It’s believed the Kings were offering two or three prospects (Jordan Weal likely among them) to the Calgary Flames and/or Edmonton Oilers as incentive to acquire him before the arrest. Richards will have suitors should the time come.
For those unfamiliar with him, Jordan Weal is 23-year-old, right-handed center who spent the better part of three seasons with the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs before cracking the NHL roster of the Kings this fall. Basically, he’s Drew Shore with much better (AHL) scoring totals.
It’s unclear which one or two prospects the Kings were also offering up, and also unclear as to what the return for the Kings would be. Given that it was prior to the Flames having that monster draft and stocking up their blueline, most likely at least one of the prospects headed to Calgary would’ve been a defender.
Regardless, I think the majority of the fan-base is quite happy that a Richards trade didn’t come to pass.
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