Sturm, Parse injury updates

The Kings might soon face a difficult decision. Marco Sturm is continuing his rehabilitation from knee tendinitis, and depending on the results of his meeting with doctors today, Sturm might be able to play Thursday in Pittsburgh. The Kings are out of roster spots, however, so assuming that everyone else stays healthy, when Sturm returns from injured reserve the Kings would either have to assign Andrei Loktionov to Manchester or expose one of their other players to waivers. Loktionov continues to practice in a first-line role and has faired relatively well, although he tends to get exposed a bit in tight, physical games. So we’ll see what happens with Sturm, who made it through another full-team practice today and is scheduled to be back on the ice tomorrow, Terry Murray said.

MURRAY: “I thought he got through the practice OK today. Yesterday was a day of recovery, and he came back with the skate. He will get another one in tomorrow. He’s leaving for his final meeting with the doctor, so (after) another hard day tomorrow, we’ll see where he’s at.”

Scott Parse continues to make slow, steady practice as well. Parse has been doing conditioning skating on his own over the past couple weeks, but today Parse joined the full group for some end-of-practice skating, as he continues to rehab from the hip surgery he had in November.

MURRAY: “Yeah, how about that? He was in the 45s [conditioning skating]. That was good to see. I was surprised that he jumped in there. I think there’s a very bright light at the end of the tunnel here, right now. He’s seeing it, he’s excited about it. He has put in a lot of time, off ice, to get to where he is right now on the ice. Very encouraging. … There’s still a ways to go, but I think there’s a great deal of adrenaline pumping right now, that he sees what the possibilities could be fairly soon.”