A different role for Handzus

For the past three seasons, almost exclusively, Michal Handzus has been the Kings’ third-line, “shutdown” center, primarily charged with matching up against opponents’ top lines. That’s about to change. As part of Wednesday’s line shuffling, Handzus is now centering the Kings’ second line, between wingers Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams, and Handzus will be put in more of an offensive role. Handzus has five goals and nine assists in 39 games this season, and with his goal Monday he broke a 19-game streak without a goal, but Handzus has put up points in the past. He’s a four-time 20-goal scorer. Perhaps just as big a factor is that Jarret Stoll, who previously served as the second-line center, is in an offensive slump, with zero goals and five assists in his last 15 games. Stoll moves to the third line, and Terry Murray said he believes Handzus can fill a bigger offensive role now…

MURRAY: “I do, and he’s done it in the past and he can do it. He’s got a pretty good history of being a player who has made pretty good plays, so I’m going to give him an opportunity — with, still, respect to the checking part of the game — to play with two players who are having good years on the offensive part of it. I think they can build on the offensive part of the game with Zeus in the middle. He’s a pretty creative guy. He thinks that part of it. He’s got pretty good hands, to make plays, and I’m going to give it a look for a while.”

Handzus’ experience playing on a line with Smyth is very limited, but Handzus said he spent the majority of a season playing on a line with Williams when they were teammates in Philadelphia. Handzus said he is comfortable with the move to a line with more offensive expectations.

HANDZUS: “Obviously, if I play with those guys it’s going to be more of an offensive role. We still have to play our game. I’m not going to change my two-way game, but obviously I’ve got to produce more, that’s for sure. But I wanted to produce more when I played with Simmer and the other guys. It’s going to be a more offensive role, but you cannot try to do too much. You play your game, and those two guys are good players, so just give them the puck and read off of them.”

Question: You just got your first goal in 20 games. Did it feel like it was that long?

HANDZUS: “Yeah, it felt even longer. I was surprised it was only 20 games. It felt a little long, but I’d been getting chances in the last couple games, so I’ve just got to get through it. I know that I can score goals, but it was long. Obviously I’ve got to get better, and I’m sure the last game was a step in the right direction.”

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