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LA Kings Projected Lineup vs. Tampa Bay Lightning; Potential Top Line Changes

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It’s like deja-vu, all over again.

Maybe this is what baseball great Yogi Berra had in mind when he uttered those famous words.

Just yesterday, coach Todd McLellan was faced with replacing Adrian Kempe, one of his top line wingers. We laid out three scenarios in advance of Monday’s game vs. the Sharks. Now back home in Los Angeles, McLellan and the Kings are essentially faced with the same scenario — perhaps really focusing more on Options B and C at this point, as Option A didn’t deliver the results desired.

No, we’re not laying the beatdown by San Jose sorely on the shoulders of 21-year-old Sammy Fagemo. However, stepping into Kempe’s role with just one game of NHL experience was a tall task to begin with. While it afforded the least disruption to what had been a winning lineup, look for McLellan to do a little more tinkering for Tuesday night’s rematch with the Lightning.

If Fagemo was Option A, what other options are available to McLellan today?

Option B

Andreas Athanasiou could be in play. As noted yesterday, he’s been out since suffering an injury on December 14 in Tampa Bay (ironically enough). Athanasiou has been skating for at least a week and should be close to returning. Activating him from IR wouldn’t be an issue either, as the Kings currently have extra roster spots to play with. On many levels, Athanasiou would make a ton of sense to replace Kempe, not the least of which includes the fact his NHL experience should make it a more comfortable plug in compared to asking Fagemo to fill the slot.

Option C

Again, as noted yesterday…

If McLellan is looking to bump somebody up in the lineup based on merit, Arthur Kaliyev would likely be the guy.

There’s a couple ways to accomplish a move like that, depending how many other lines McLellan is willing to make adjustments to.

Option D

Given the Kings recent struggles on specialty teams – more specifically, the power play. Martin Frk should make a ton of sense as an addition at forward. Again, the Kings have extra room on the roster, so calling him up wouldn’t require a corresponding move. After scoring 14 goals in 24 AHL games this season, he was finally called up a few weeks ago and played just two games before entering protocol. The key in those two games is just how different the power play looked with him on the ice. And, yes, he did pot a classic Frk PPG in his first game up vs. Nashville on January 6. He’s now out of protocol and back skating with the Reign.

With today’s morning skate classified as optional, McLellan really didn’t tip his hand on what he and the coaching staff are planning. Goaltender Cal Petersen is expected to get the start in net.

Other than that, there are a few guesses and assumptions built into the below projection.

LA KINGS PROJECTED LINEUP vs. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING on 1/18

Iafallo – Kopitar – Kupari
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Brown – Turcotte – Kaliyev
Lemieux – Lizotte – Fagemo

Other options: Anderson-Dolan
IR: Andersson, Athanasiou
Protocol: Grundstrom, Kempe

Anderson – Doughty
Maatta – Roy
Bjornfot – Durzi

Other options: Moverare

Petersen (starter)
Quick

On the Tampa Bay side of things:

From the Lightning game a few days ago…

KINGS MILESTONES WITHIN REACH

Anze Kopitar – needs 35 points to pass Dave Taylor for third on the Kings all-time scoring list

Dustin Brown — 6 goals away from passing Bernie Nicholls for fifth place in Kings franchise history

Drew Doughty — 5 games away from playing in his 1,000th NHL regular season game

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 pm PST tonight and the game will be televised on Bally Sports West.

RELATED CONTENT:

Kings Of the Podcast: Ep. Q11 with Martin Frk

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