Earlier today we posted comments from Colin Fraser, where he intimated he would get the better of Matt Greene in a good ‘ol hockey scrap. Ever the opportunist, we felt it only fair that Greene be given a shot at a rebuttal.
“Yeah, I don’t know about that,” he said, shrugging off the mere suggestion.
Then, after a calculated pause – through a dead-pan look, mixing humor and perhaps a bit of irritation at the suggestion – Greene added, “”I don’t think so!”
Not only was Fraser sizing up the Kings alternate captain figuratively, he did so literally as well – putting himself at 190 pounds and Greene at 240.
“It’s a generous 190 out of him,” added Greene with a big smirk and a chuckle. “I’m 234. So, he’s giving me a few and he’s giving himself about 10.”
On a more serious note, with just over a week to go in training camp, the 30-year old defenseman still sees a serious competition for spots on the blueline.
“I think everybody is competing for a spot,” he explained. “I think the guys that aren’t are probably Dewey and Slava. Other than that though, it’s pretty wide open right now. I played five games [last season], so I should be trying to come in here and win a spot. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Like Doughty following the exhibition game in Anaheim, Greene has plenty of praise for young Jake Muzzin.
“Real good puck moving defenseman. Solid position. He’s just getting better defensively. I think he’s pretty all around good D, before I started playing with him. But he’s getting better in all aspects of the game. He’s getting more confidence with the puck and getting better defensively in the zone. He’s going to be a real good player for us.”
As for Muzzin’s challenges in the playoffs, Greene believes it’s all just part of the process.
“We talked about it last year in playoffs with him. You’re out there for a reason. If you play in the playoffs, that’s not by mistake, it means that the coaches have trust in you. It means that you can do the job, so just embrace it. That’s what we try to tell him last year, and get that through to him that he was there for a reason. So just perform.”
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before training camp started my projected D lineup was
regher/doughty
voynov/mitchell
greene/muzzin
xtra D martinez.
im sticking to those for now, but I havent heard anything about Ellerby though. John, any word about how ellerby has been in camp so far?
thx
Those pairings look like what Sutter had in mind originally, but not so sure on Martinez as the extra defenseman. Seems the coach likes Ellerby more for whatever reason.
One other thing to keep in mind, because of Mitchell’s knee still being a bit of a question mark until proven otherwise, the Kings are very likely to be opening the season with eight defensemen (so, yes, they’ll only carry one extra forward). That gives them a little extra breathing room – but still leaves a choice to be made between Ellerby, Martinez and Schultz. There just isn’t room to keep all three, and none of them can be sent to Manchester without first clearing waivers. So, something has to give over the next 10 days.
thanks John.
I guees if the decision is to keep 8 dmen to start the season, then toffoli goes down. I assume he is still waiver exempt right?
of the three you mention, my guess is shultz is the odd man out. would hate to lose ellerby or martinez with so much more upside there.
Yes, Toffoli is waiver exempt. He can be sent to Manchester without any problems.
Well, tornado12, that might work. Ellerby and Schultz would be the odd men out. I’m not sure…I think the jury might still be out on Mitchell (I *hope* he can come back at 100%), so having the extra options until the end of camp is probably a good thing.
That a decision would (or must) include one of Ellerby, Regehr or Schultz sends a clear message that its going to be some time before LA will again be able to boast of having a solid blue line.