In noted that is he currently the only NHL coach who's guided a team thru a shortened 48 game season, that will help.
From that article, this on how Sutter plans to replace Kopi if necessary:
Quote:
If Kopitar isn't ready, Sutter said he might move Jeff Carter, who mostly played the wing after the Kings acquired him from Columbus, back to center and return Dustin Brown to the right side after playing the left side most of the season. Sutter also said if Simon Gagne is 100% after missing much of last season because of a concussion and Dustin Penner is in shape, the Kings will have a good deal of flexibility.
In noted that is he currently the only NHL coach who's guided a team thru a shortened 48 game season, that will help.
From that article, this on how Sutter plans to replace Kopi if necessary:
What why move brown to right wing?? That makes no sense, If you want him lethal you keep him left wtf? Make someone else take right not your first line player.
What why move brown to right wing?? That makes no sense, If you want him lethal you keep him left wtf? Make someone else take right not your first line player.
Agree, Brown is not the same player when playing RW. In fact, when he's playing RW, he's the kind of player you wouldn't mind seeing traded at the deadline.
What why move brown to right wing?? That makes no sense, If you want him lethal you keep him left wtf? Make someone else take right not your first line player.
It's due to the Kings having to use Jeff Carter at center if Kopitar is going to miss games. That leaves a hole on RW and the Kings don't have any other options on RW aside from Justin Williams. Trevor Lewis is better suited as the 3rd line RW and Jordan Nolan (or Westgarth, hopefully Nolan) should be the 4th line RWs.
They'll probably get the lines back to how they were during the playoffs once Kopitar gets back.
I'd prefer to see the Kings leave that second line intact, and just move Lewis up into Kopitar's spot until he comes back. When Kopi went down a couple years ago, Lewis moved up and did an admirable job. He's not a top-6 guy, but he's shown time and time again that he knows how to elevate his game when needed. It minimizes juggling of lines, and going Lewis-Richards-Stoll-Frasier down the middle for a week or so isn't going to kill the team. One thing I absolutely wouldn't do is move Brown back to the other side.
I believe the position Brown plays is not relevant. If he plays like post-trade deadline Brown, he will be dangerous from either side. On the other hand Gagne and Penner are both longtime LWs and I feel good with having those two guys, healthy and in shape, being my 1-2 on the left side for Cup-contender team.
That is what I am calling for. But apparently people think Greene/A-Mart are incapable of playing top four minutes, and Slava needs a safety valve to function.
That is what I am calling for. But apparently people think Greene/A-Mart are incapable of playing top four minutes, and Slava needs a safety valve to function.
So who knows.
I would agree with all of that, actually. Defense will be an issue at first.
Glad we have tons of depth if that statement about the number of players used is true.
Of course Mitchel is irreplaceable but Greene should be capable of playing top 4 minutes...c'mon. He already did when he came here.
We all think the Kings have one of the top defenses in the league. Now we are suddenly thin on defense and both Martinez and Greene are not good enough...
We are going to be fine for a short stretch without Willie. Hickey is NHL ready and while he will need to adjust (no calling for his head after 6 to 11 games only to be proven wrong again ) I believe that he will be fine if managed properly (which I have no doubt will happen). We will need WM back asap but we are deep enough to cover for him for awhile.
We also have Muzzin who has played injured most of this season in the AHL but has picked up his game lately. Allot of kids elevate their games once they get their shot at the NHL. It happens.
We are deep on D and A Mart can easily play top 4 minutes. He is ready.
We are going to be fine for a short stretch without Willie. Hickey is NHL ready and while he will need to adjust (no calling for his head after 6 to 11 games only to be proven wrong again ) I believe that he will be fine if managed properly (which I have no doubt will happen). We will need WM back asap but we are deep enough to cover for him for awhile.
We also have Muzzin who has played injured most of this season in the AHL but has picked up his game lately. Allot of kids elevate their games once they get their shot at the NHL. It happens.
We are deep on D and A Mart can easily play top 4 minutes. He is ready.
Here comes the announcement(s).
New friends, new faces.
You can't just drop that without explaining.
We also have Drewiski that will probably be the fill in for Mitchell.
We also have Drewiski that will probably be the fill in for Mitchell.
Sorry, didn't mean to be misleading.
Also sorry for forgetting to put DavisD's name on the list. He absolutely is a hot topic for the Kings right now. He can certainly fill in but I am thinking that he would be a waiver send down if push comes to shove.
I believe that we will move JB and AL sooner rather than later but I also understand that we could make room to address another couple of things relatively soon as well.
We have a couple of depth adds that we are considering as far as I understand. So many options spinning around sort of thing.
) I believe that he will be fine if managed properly (which I have no doubt will happen). We will need WM back asap but we are deep enough to cover for him for awhile.
