And, no, I’m not reporting a rumor. I don’t know any rumors, and I don’t have sources anyway. So why am I saying such things? Here’s my reasoning:

• Gagne – Richards – Brown sucked Saturday. They were by far the worst line on the ice. This point in and of itself means nothing.
• Sutter was especially critical of the left wings, without naming names.
• Who could Sutter be talking about? Well, not Kyle Clifford, since he was one of the best players on the ice, and is currently leading the team in scoring.
• Sutter said, recently, that Dwight King may have been the best left wing on the Kings last season. So it sounds to me like King is “in favor.”
• Dustin Penner was not terrible on Saturday, especially as the game wore on.
• The lines at today’s practice (with Kopitar back now) were Brown – Kopitar – Williams, Penner – Richards – Carter, King – Stoll – Lewis, Clifford – Fraser – Nolan.
• No Gagne.
• Those are essentially the Kings Stanley Cup run lines, before Gagne came back from injury (and was more or less invisible).
• This suggests that Gagne is likely to be a healthy scratch tomorrow, along with Brad Richardson.
• Meanwhile, as you all probably have heard by now, Matt Greene is going to be out for a long while, most of the season, if not the whole season.
• Willie Mitchell is almost ready to come back, but not quite. And he hasn’t been skating for several weeks until very recently, so it’s not reasonable to expect him to be in game shape.
• So, tomorrow night’s d will be: Scuderi – Doughty, Muzzin – Voynov, Martinez – Drewiske?
• Dean Lombardi might let that happen for a couple of games, but barring some kind of miracle in which Muzzin and/or Drewiske play miraculously, Lombardi is going to have to trade for a veteran third-pair defenseman (or look to the waiver wire, as he did with Kyle Quincey).
• I guess there’s a chance that Mitchell comes back in the next week, and Muzzin steps up, and the Kings can hold pat with what they’ve got.
• But even then, you’ve still got Simon Gagne in the press box. And that situation can’t really be sustained either.
• This is why I would be shopping Gagne now — or even Gagne plus Jarret Stoll — looking to bring back a real replacement for Matt Greene.
• Then you can just slide Trevor Lewis over to center, which is his natural position anyway, and bring up Tyler Toffoli to play on his right side. King – Lewis – Toffoli. Or bring up Loktionov, oh ha ha ha I know that ship has sailed. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Lombardi include Loktionov in a trade package at this point, now that I think about it.
• Gagne, maybe Stoll, maybe Loktionov, for whom?
• You’ve got me there. I have no idea.

 

Some posts the robot says are related, but I'll let you be the judge of that:

1. You’re all a bunch of Jeremy Roenicks
2. Kings’ lines and pairs – Day One
3. 2013 Kings’ opening night line-up?
4. Who will still be on the Kings in 2013-14?
5. Simon Gagne, cleared to play — ready for primetime?
6. 2011-2012 Kings Prospects Scoring, Adjusted
7. How did these Kings get here in the first place?