He has been charged with possession of a controlled substance after being stopped entering Canada on Thursday morning, tweeted by the Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He is due to appear in court on Sept. 10.
Back on June 29, the Kings terminated Richard's contract because of what they say "a material breach of his requirements of his Standard Player's Contract." We don't know what the requirements were or what he did that might have set them off but it required the Kings to let him go. The NHLPA had also filed a grievance contesting that termination but no word on its process so far. Right now, Richards is a free agent.
In terms of his playing time, Richards has seemed to fall off the mark. He appeared in 53 games last season for the NHL but couldn't do much damage for the Kings and was sent down to their AHL affiliate where he was a bit better, with 14 points in 16 games. Sending Richards down might've been the smartest move for the Kings when they were trying to contest for a playoff berth, but now that he has walked as a result of the termination, as well as this new legal issue, it'll be hard for him to find a new team anytime soon.
I respect Mike Richards as a player. He plays hard, he gets people to follow him, he's a good team player, and he played well alongside former Flyer teammate Jeff Carter. Now he's walking and trying to find a new team and this arrest can't look good for him or any team that might want to pick him up.
We will have to see how the legal process takes its course and I don't know what Canada's laws and punishments are regarding controlled substance but if it's similar to the US, he might only need to pay a fine and do community service, but again, I don't know what the system is up there, so we will wait and see.
Hopefully, Mike Richards finds a new team and has a productive season coming up. But given that he's sort-of past his prime, the way he went out with the LA Kings, as well as this latest arrest, it'll be hard for him to find a new team anytime soon.
