Slava Voynov will be back in the Kings’ lineup tonight, in place of Alec Martinez. Voynov missed four games because of an undisclosed injury and, in his place, Martinez did not record a point and had an even plus-minus rating, Darryl Sutter said of the swap, “(It’s) for no other reason than I like the lefty-righty thing. Voynov was playing well when he went out, and Marty played well when he was in. If you could play seven of them, I would.’’ Voynov is expected to return to a pairing with Willie Mitchell.
As a follow-up to this item from last week, there’s still no good news for Simon Gagne, who has a concussion and tonight will miss his eighth consecutive game. Again, as noted a few days ago, concussion symptoms are unpredictable, but at this point, Gagne’s prognosis for the rest of this season is not good.
SUTTER: “I haven’t seen him, other than at games. Basically, that is protocol, with not just Simon but everybody like that. (Being) out of the pressure cooker is supposed to be the best thing for them, so that’s kind of where it’s at.’’
Too bad someone has to sit but glad Slava is back
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and his beard is at his chest and will be at his knees before we know it…LTIR!
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Well Doesnt matter to me as long as we score more then 2 goals! come on Kings lets this 2 points
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So, without Gagne there’s a big hole in the top 6. Which Top 6 forwards are likely to be availble near the trade deadline? Anyone care to hazard some guesses (not who you would like to see, but who is in a position where their team would be willing to move them for prospects or picks).
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AZ King Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 1:49 pm
@Weasel,
Ray Whitney. DL wanted him before, and there are rumors that he is interested again.
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Weasel Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
@AZ King,
What’s Whitney’s nickname — Is he “the Wizard” I though I heard the NHL channel guys call him that or something else pretty cool. Whitney’s price tag should be far lower than a Nash right?
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AZ King Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
@Weasel,
You are correct, his nickname is “the Wizard” and he would cost A LOT less than Nash.
Stuart Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 2:31 pm
@Weasel & AZ King, but he would not produce as much as RN!
I for one think Nash is attainable. At some point before the trade deadline, CBS is going to need to decide what they’re going to do with their future… RN will get the JB and another NHL-ready player (hate to say it, but maybe Scuds?) as well as prospects, I would imagine…
I’m sure the numbers would get in the way, but isn’t DL a cap “wizard” of sorts? maybe more a warlock…
40YearKingsFan Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 2:55 pm
@Weasel, It appears as if Whitney is a 3 million cap hit this year and a UFA next year.
Stuart Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
@40year, but at the deadline we’d be on the hook for half or something such like that, which IIRC Token and Dom threw some figures out and we’d be able to cover that, iff (if and only if) SG goes on the LTIR and we have his cap hit to spend.
Token Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 4:07 pm
@Stuart, if you count Parse, we could sign ~ $4.4M worth of full season cap. Actual salary would be prorated to date of LTIR for Gags and Parse. Too complicated to try and figure out. CapGeek has a calculator for that.
EasyBob Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
@Weasel, Edmonton needs a goal keeper and D. and can give us a couple young fast high scoring forwards. Guess who…
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LA_1968 Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
@EasyBob, No more trades with the snake oilers.
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Weasel Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
@EasyBob,
I assume they would not be interested in tradin any of the top line Hall-RNH-Erberle — outside of those three is there a talented guy that could benefit the Kings?
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LA_1968 Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
@Weasel, Anaheim is shopping Getzlaf (again) and Perry. The word is that there have been calls from some teams but nothing close.
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AZ King Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
@LA_1968,
Unless your going to give up Kopitar or someone like that, that will never happen. The Ducks don’t want prospects and picks, they want established NHL players.
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LA_1968 Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 4:04 pm
@AZ King, I think they need and want depth. Something like one of those guys for a two proven second liners. That’s a hard fit to find.
VanKingsFan Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
@Weasel, Parise, do it DL!
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AZ King Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
@VanKingsFan,
Gonna have to wait till summer.
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
@Weasel,
Although it hurts losing Gagne, I don’t think we have a hole at all the way Sutter has put the lines together. Where we do have a problem is with depth, If somebody else goes down we’re playing an AHL guy and I don’t think you want to do that down the stretch. I’d look for DL to make a move to rent some depth. There won’t be any blockbusters, just a veteran so we can absorb another injury without having to put Westgarth on the ice every night.
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Weasel Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
@40YearKingsFan,
Isn’t Moreua still in the AHL? Whatever happened to Harold, is he overseas?
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scepin Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
@Weasel, Harrold is in the New Jersey organiztion at the AHL level
castle dweller Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
@40YearKingsFan,
That sounds like DL. I think you get the prize for post of the day. I don’t see a blockbuster trade costing us integral parts of our future for a rental player. Especially since the Penner deal has produced as little as it has, and cost what it did. Keep in mind we would have to move a top six to clear cap space. I don’t think gags will be placed on ltir in time to clear any room.
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Rich,
Does a player have to be out for a certain period of time before the team can place them on LTIR? Also, if he is places in LTIR does that mean that Gagne could not come back at all this season?
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Stuart Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 2:31 pm
@AZ King, season or the playoffs is my understanding…
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PRMan Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 6:07 pm
@AZ King, If Gagne is (going to be) out 7 days, we can place him on IR. If DL got an extra body in a trade, we could put Gagne on IR retroactive to when he was injured. Gagne could then come back at any time, but there would have to be a roster move to make a spot for him (another injury, send a player down, waive someone, etc.).
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Marty’s been playing well and think DS should have waited for the Flame game to sit him….sorry Marty….but six or one half dozen of the other…
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It’s time to put Mr. Gagne on LTIR. Either his playing days are behind him or heis noodle clears up just in time for an insane late season/playoff push. I wish him well in either case.
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KC23 Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 3:00 pm
@Harrison Merkin, He is not far from it I bet.
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Rich, are you able to get any info on Ethan Moreau? I know he accepted the assignment to Manchester, but my understanding is that he is in town there in Manchester but has yet to practice with the team or suit up for a game. Any idea of what is going on? Are they just hoping to get a trade or for re entry waivers to see if another team picks him up?
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Kingsfanone Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
@EASportsMgt,
I was wondering about him also, just thinking. We lost @Holly, our Manchester connection, as I haven’t seen her post in quite some time.
Moreau lost his Sugar Daddy connection.
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Voynov is a stud! I think he has a better shot then AM does.
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Duckbasher Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 3:41 pm
@Kingsfan602,
I think AM has a better shot (more accurate) from the point than almost every other King player except Voynov. Mitchell gets his shots on goal, as does Scuderi, but Scuderi takes 5 minutes to settle the puck and get the shot off. By then it rarely gets to the goalie. I’d like to see us move someone other than AM if that’s what we end up doing to get a winger come trade deadline. I think AM is probably our most under-valued asset right now. He’s a very capable defender for only $750k a year. As a matter of fact, I’d take him any day over Doughty at $7 million. For that kind of money I’d take Martinez and Parise anyday.
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DEH Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
@Duckbasher, if the goal were levitating 2 ft in the air then all of JJ’s shots would go in
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I think Martinez played well, but Voynov is way more dynamic. He gives our defense another dimension which is badly needed with our struggles to score goals.
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jess Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 3:14 pm
@VanKingsFan, Agreed. AM exceeded expectations but good to have VV back -especially on the PP.
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Sounds like Gagne is done for the rest of the year. There were a lot of us on this blog who thought he would not last the entire year. He started off solid producing points and then went dormant like a hibernating bear. Well… our offense has been pretty dormant since November 20th. Where’s Goldie Locks?
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Glad to see Voynov back, but Martinez played some rock solid hockey while Voynov was out. If we deal Martinez, somebody is going to get a helluva defenseman.
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Token Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
@40YearKingsFan, I’d much rather we trade JJ and get a good return.
Trading prospects will only get you prospects or rentals.
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ToughD Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 5:08 pm
@Token, Agreed with JJ, even though I cringe every time I think how much DD is making.
Just think Voynov is very shaky back there, especially with every goal against so critical. Believe he affects Mitchell in a negative way also. Not sure it’s worth an extra scoring chance per game.
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Marty has played extremely well and has not had the turnovers that VV had. He is an outstanding value.
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“I’d play all 7 if I could”. That comment by DS doesn’t seem to include DD2 at all. I have nothing but good stuff to say about VV and AM, but DD2 has played well when he has been in there too. DD2 must be in the works for any trade that comes up, unless they think one of the top six won’t be there next year. GO KINGS!
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Stuart Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
@FrankinVA, funny, I thought the same about DD2…
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