Player evaluation: Muzzin

JAKE MUZZIN
This season: 11 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, 0 penalty minutes, 13:43 average ice time.
The good: Considered something of a late-bloomer — Muzzin initially was a fifth-round draft pick, then had a serious injury and was signed by the Kings as a free agent — Muzzin impressed last summer, and in training camp, with solid two-way potential. He’s a big defenseman who can move, a player who can create offensive and bring some nastiness as well. Muzzin, for the most part, didn’t look out of place during his early-season run with the Kings.
The bad: Not surprisingly, as Muzzin got into his second month in the NHL, consistency started to be an issue. Muzzin got exposed at times, and in mid-November, rather than making him a regular healthy scratch, the Kings decided Muzzin was better served playing in the AHL, so they sent him down and called up Alec Martinez.
Going forward: Muzzin’s two-way potential, and his steady improvement over the last two seasons, indicates that he will get another long look in training camp this fall. Muzzin has strong two-way potential but still needs to elevate both sides of his game. He has yet to show the offensive ability of Martinez or the prolonged nastiness of a Matt Greene-type player. Muzzin is still young, though, and that potential is there.