Mike Richards' ability to perform in the clutch is one of the reasons they decided to pass on the opportunity to use a compliance buyout on him. "No question," said Kings GM Dean Lombardi. "That's what you'd rather have, if you have a choice you'll always take the playoff big-game player over the regular-season guy. But you still need to get both particularly when you have a financial commitment under the cap; you can't just write it off." Lombardi also took into account that Richards played a key role in them winning the Cup in 2011 and liked what he heard from Richards during his exit meeting. Richards is coming off a down season where he recorded just 41 points in 82 games. He comes with a $5.75 million cap hit annually through 2019-20.