Kings inconsistency sends the wrong message

The Los Angeles Kings have had a rough few months with player off-ice behavior.  Let’s summarize:

1. Voynov domestic abuse

2. Stoll felony drug charges

3. Richards border crossing

When you look at the allegations (or conviction in the case of Voynov), you can draw your own conclusions about their severity and punishment.

But the only person who was cut immediately by the Kings was Mike Richards.  Not surprisingly, this appears to have become an easy out for the Kings who admitted they should have dropped him a year ago.

But with Slava Voynov, who was convicted and jailed and faces deportation, the Kings decided he didn’t breach his player’s contract.  He is still on their roster and LA draws cap relief.

Is this the right message to send?

We don’t think so.

Pension Plan Puppets’ flynnkatie wrote an excellent article on the situation:

There’s a disconnect here that has been made crystal clear after the Kings terminated Richards’ contract. There are many NHL players who have been arrested for possession and/or DUI.

There are far too many players that have a history of sexual assault, abuse, or harassment. Instead of buying out the remaining years on Richards’ contract, they decided to boldly tell the league they would not tolerate illegal activity of any kind by severing ties immediately.

This was a move that shed light on how ill equipped the NHL and its members are at deciphering what “a material breach of the requirements” of the SPC are. Physical abuse is not, harassment is not, but the possession of drugs is.

Headlines all over the sports world reporting drug arrest after drug arrest don’t reflect well on the league, nor on their players. You can’t hide the allegations or the charges from the impressionable youth who consume the game. What’s worse is the NHL’s stance on the treatment of women and girls leaves much to be desired when Voynov’s contract was not terminated but Richards’ was.