Roster moves: 01/16/18

Amadio, LaDue up; Fantenberg, MacDermid down; Jokinen on waivers:


LA Insider

Jokinen picked up on waivers by CBJ

LAKINGSFAN said:

Jokinen picked up on waivers by CBJ

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What about Cammy ??


Hopefully this is to make some room....they need something

Kings4OT said:

What about Cammy ??

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Bwahahah. funny

Kings4OT said:

What about Cammy ??


Hopefully this is to make some room....they need something

Click to expand...

You mean Mr. No Goals in a Month Cammalleri? At least Jokinen was scratched - can't sore from the bench. Giving you grief of course but good old Mikey has been playing, getting PP time and T6 time and hasn't scored a goal since Dec 21. Any takers?

=)~~

I'm not sure why they scratched Jokinen so much, the Kings played well with him in. I believe they won 14-15 games with him in the lineup out of the 18 games he played. Mitchell is picked up, Jokinen sits but I really don't see a heck of a lot of difference between the two. They have both produced the same (around 5-6 points or so I believe), but Jokinen held a significant FOW% at 60% vs 54%. Thus I'm assuming it's the speed - Mitchell is definitely faster and can back off the defense a bit better than Jokinen can.

With these moves, it sounds like a lot of wheels on the bus go round and round more than anything but with LaDue up there will be another RH shot on the blue line with Doughty. The Kings are loaded with LH defenders (most NHL teams are, which is why that RH shot is so coveted and commands a higher premium than a LH shot) and some guys cannot play both sides of the ice. Martinez can efficiently but Muzzin cannot for example.

It may seem insignificant but corralling a puck on your forehand against the same side board vs your backhand on the opposite side board is a lot easier and creates that extra necessary moment to make the right/better play. Case in point, look what happened to McDermid against Calgary, he tried to receive a basic ring around the boards behind the net on his backhand to the left of Quick, the puck bounced off his blade and went right into the slot for a goal against. These things happen, especially if you're a nervous recent pro like he is, but some NHLers simply aren't comfortable doing it no matter how many years they have in the league.

As a strategist, something I have noticed is with all the LH defenders LA has, opposing teams are pressuring that right side defender (unless it's Doughty) more than the left side one to force them into an uncomfortable situation I just mentioned above. It has worked because the Kings are not being able to make quick passes to break out of the zone to the forwards or the defense is making a mistake and turning the puck over and getting pinned in the zone.

Looking back on both those Cup teams, in 2012 there was a RH and LH shot on each pairing (LH - Martinez/Mitchell/Scuderi RH - Green/Doughty/Voynov) and in 2014 they had an extra southpaw in Regehr (LH - Martinez/Mitchell/Muzzin/Regehr RH - Green/Doughty/Voynov). Dumbo set this up this way for a reason albeit subtle - unless you know to look for it, you won't see it.

As for moves, I don't really see anything right now but with the Trade Deadline a month away you know the GMs are heating up talks. The King sent down two defenseman, which means Muffo is probably ready to be activated off IR. I'm sure he's recovered from his vaginal rejuvenation surgery.

I expect to see both he and LaDue tonight and expect to see Amadio in the B6, maybe in place of Mitchell or Andreoff.