Schenn: Only a center

As posted last night, Brayden Schenn’s conditioning assignment in Manchester has come to an end, and Schenn is expected to be back on the ice with the Kings when they practice tomorrow. Will that lead to Schenn playing a game? Schenn is still stuck on eight games, and can play one more before the Kings must decide whether to return him to his junior team or keep him and use a year of his entry-level contract. Terry Murray said today he would talk with management soon and decide on a strategy for Schenn.

“We need to sit down, as a group, and discuss what the plan is going to be,” Murray said. “That will probably happen tomorrow, maybe even tonight.”

The plan, it seems, won’t include moving Schenn to left wing, where the Kings have a clear top-six hole. The Kings tried Andrei Loktionov, a natural center, at left wing for a while, but it didn’t really work, and Murray said he wouldn’t consider moving Schenn.

MURRAY: “No, I wouldn’t. I’ve never seen him play, other than in the middle. I’ve seen him in a couple training camps, only, in the middle of the ice, and a couple games this year. That’s where he was drafted. He was a high draft pick playing as a center iceman and he was one of the leading scorers in the WHL as a center iceman, and a key guy going into the Memorial Cup. I can’t visualize him playing out of position right now.”