Evolving usage for McNabb, who faces his former team

With the Kings facing personnel decisions during the time it took Jake Muzzin’s upper-body injury to heal and in the aftermath of Slava Voynov’s indefinite suspension, the importance of Brayden McNabb’s acquisition at last season’s trading deadline has been reinforced.

Averaging 17:21 of ice time through the first six games of the season, McNabb opened the year by playing alongside Drew Doughty, and if today’s defensive pairings will continue tomorrow, he’ll skate at even strength alongside a much different type of defenseman in Matt Greene, who is much more of a stay-at-home type.

“Well, we moved him with Greene because Jake is more comfortable with Drew than Brayden would be,” Darryl Sutter said earlier today. “And as you go deeper into the season, it’s not training camp when you’re just rolling four lines, especially when you’re playing higher powered teams. Sometimes you don’t want to expose players. You want to take advantage of what they have. It’s not so much ‘who he’s more comfortable with’ now. Those are our six defensemen, and we have the flexibility of Marty being able to play the right side. I think that we like Muzzin with Doughty, and that’s that.”

It’s an interesting adjustment to pay attention to Thursday night, which overlaps with McNabb’s first game against his former club. A third round selection by Buffalo in 2009, McNabb played 37 games with the Sabres and 145 games with the AHL’s Rochester Americans before he was traded to the Kings along with two second round draft picks in exchange for prospects Nic Deslauriers and Hudson Fasching. Deslauriers made his Buffalo debut shortly after the trade and has posted one goal and a minus-12 rating in 23 career NHL games.

“Adjusting to the Western Conference a little bit, it’s a big, heavy conference, and [I was] just getting up to speed at the NHL caliber through camp, the first few games,” McNabb said. “But as the games go on I’ve been feeling a little bit more comfortable. There are little hiccups here and there, but that will all iron itself out.”

He’ll look to continue to etch out his role on the team when facing his former teammates Thursday night in a game that carries the proverbial date-circled-on-the-calendar circumstances.

“I saw that it was going to be early in the season, and I wanted to be in for it,” he said. “It’s here. I’m excited. They have a lot of guys I played with over there and it’ll be pretty cool.”

McNabb’s play has earned himself an admirer – one who may have watched the games from the team’s facility underneath the Staples Center concourses.

“He looks good,” Jake Muzzin said.

“It’s tough to come in to a new system and play right away, play with Drew and against some top guys. But he’s done an awesome job and he’s helped us win and start off to a good record here. And we look forward to him to keep on doing what he’s doing here for the rest of the season.”

Brayden McNabb, on whether an adjustment is needed when paired with Matt Greene:
I don’t think so. Greene, he’s a good veteran and he’s a big talker out there. So whenever you communicate, it makes things easier on ice. I’m looking forward to it.

McNabb, on the preseason game in which he was paired with Matt Greene:
It was good. I thought we played really well. Like I said before, I know what I’m going to get from him. So that’s always nice. You know that he’s a great communicator. It’s easy that way.

McNabb, on whether Drew Doughty talks more than Matt Greene on the ice:
They’re both up there I guess. They’re both veterans and Greener is a good communicator and always positive.

McNabb, on how Buffalo changed after Ted Nolan took over as head coach last season:
It was really good. Just the demeanor of him, he’s a very good motivator and he’s a great coach too. When I was there, my last year there, going through kind of a tough time development phase. They got things turned around. They’ve got everything established now. So you know they’re going to be a great team in the future.

McNabb, on the environment in Buffalo:
It’s a great town. It’s a blue-collar town. The fans are great there, they love you. The three years I was there, we didn’t really have a winning team and they were very supportive. I can’t say enough about their fans the organization itself. The owner and everything, the organization, it’s good and they’re going in the right direction now.

McNabb, on whether he went to Buffalo Bills games while in Buffalo:
I did, a few, like three or four. It was fun. It was cool.

McNabb, on whether Sabres owner Terry Pegula was often around the team:
Yeah, you see him around a good amount. He’s a big image in Buffalo and he’s a great person to have there.

McNabb, on how his game changes when skating with a new defensive partner:
I don’t think it changes very much. Like I said before, I just try to continue to get better and make the level of play go up. Just help this team win.

McNabb, on whether his play changes based on his defensive partner:
Like I was saying earlier, I have to work on defense first. I’ve got to get that nailed down pat. Once that happens, I think the offense will come in soon enough. But if I have a chance in the offensive zone, I’m going to take it. It’s not like I’m staying clear of the offensive [zone].