With two out of three of the Kings' best prospects already up with the squad and doing well early on, only Tanner Pearson the team's 2012 first-round selection remains in the AHL with Manchester.
There may be an opportunity for him though on the upcoming New York state swing that the Kings will embark on starting Tuesday and ending on Sunday. The trip will take the Kings just about 250 miles and an hour and a half plane flight from Manchester, NH where Pearson is currently playing. The gritty left winger is currently third on the team in points with seven goals and four assists in 14 games. His 48 shots are amongst the most on the team, his plus-seven rating is tied for the team lead, and his seven goals are tied with current King Tyler Toffoli.
If his play alone wasn't enough, the potential for a call up for Pearson could also be considered due to recent reports that the injury to Kyle Clifford suffered in Saturday's win over Vancouver is worse than originally thought.
Per Lisa Dillman of the LA Times:
Jarret Stoll did however participate in a full practice and is making the trip. The absence of Clifford though, who Sutter said "Got his bell rung" leaves a hole at left wing. Pearson, the Kings' top left wing prospect could help fill the void for the trip as the proximity to New Hampshire makes it an easy flight for the 21-year-old Pearson.
There is a bit of dilemma though. The Kings will have to utilize the IR on one of their many injured players (Carter already on IR) to get Pearson up being so close to the cap. Long term IR would also have to be utilized for the cap relief to do so. Also, if you do call up Pearson, do you suit him up with Vey and Toffoli? Considering this was arguably the best line in the AHL last year with a combined 165 points in 196 games it's hard to say no to that potential. Toffoli though has shown an extreme amount of naturally chemistry with Mike Richards and after coming off his best career game in the NHL I'd be hard pressed to break those two up.
The thought of reuniting the three headed dragon of the Monarchs at the NHL is definitely an appetizing one and one that many prospect followers like myself would be excited to see. Unfortunately, that time may not be right now. With Jeff Carter out the Kings need Toffoli in the top six with Mike Richards. His mini-Carter like play is just what the Kings need in the absence of their most prolific scorer.
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With Stoll potentially coming back in is it possible Vey sits? I don't think so but Sutter loves his veteran players and Colin Fraser may get the nod in the absence of gritty and hard hitting Clifford. Personally, between Vey and Fraser the decision isn't a decision to me. The Kings fourth line showed a tremendous amount of effective pressure in the offensive zone, and while they may have lost a little grit overall, the creativity and threatening play was way more impressive. Fraser has been barely cracking the five minute mark in ice time when he plays, where as the King centers of Lewis and Vey both played north of 12 minutes on Saturday. In fact, in the last four games Fraser has played he has logged 4:46, 3:25, 5:53, and 4:15 respectively. This doesn't seem like a huge deal, but the trickle down effect it has can be significant.
With Vey playing near 7-8 minutes more than Fraser, that's 7-8 minutes less that has to be laid on the feet of Anze Kopitar and Mike Richards. Kopitar already logs the fifth most ice time in the league amongst centers with 21:26. Richards slides in at 49th with an average of 18:30.
Let's take a look at the distribution of ice time in games in which Fraser has played and compare it to Kopitar and Richards. Keep in mind while reading this,
Kopitar averages 21:26, and
Richards averages 18:30
November 2nd against Nashville
| Mike Richards | Anze Kopitar |
Colin Fraser |
|---|
| 21:22 | 22:29 | 4:15 |
|---|
Notice how both Kopitar and Richards played above average minutes? Also note that in this game Jarret Stoll was injured and played only nine minutes. So maybe that had something to do with it. Let's look at another game.
October 27th against the Edmonton Oilers.
| Mike Richards | Anze Kopitar | Colin Fraser |
|---|
| 22:39 | 24:21 | 3:25 |
|---|
Again, notice how Kopitar and Richards are playing an access of their average minutes. This wasn't against a top team either like San Jose, where you might expect a little more matchup play and top line against top line minutes. This was against EDMONTON. Starting to see a trend? One more game for posterity.
October 24th against Phoenix
| Mike Richards | Anze Kopitar | Jarret Stoll | Colin Fraser |
|---|
| 17:05 | 20:14 | 17:57 | 4:46 |
|---|
Now notice how Kopitar and Richards are playing less minutes than average, but
Jarret Stoll had to pick up the slack by nearly four minutes over his season average of 14:30. Someone is having to pick up the slack.
And finally let's put Vey in the equation.
Against Buffalo November 7th
| Mike Richards | Anze Kopitar | Linden Vey |
|---|
| 18:35 | 22:36 | 11:28 |
|---|
November 9th against Vancouver
| Mike Richards | Anze Kopitar | Linden Vey |
|---|
| 16:59 | 20:04 | 13:59 |
|---|
Obviously there are MULTIPLE factors that go into these ice times. Special teams time, injuries, in game performances. So they should be taken perhaps with a grain of salt. However, looking at these numbers, and looking overall at what more ice time to the bottom line center can do for your top guys is a big deal. This is an extremely small sample size, but keep it in mind moving forward.
Jordan Nolan was also the beneficiary as he played his highest ice time total of the year of 11:34. While I appreciate the play Fraser brings to the table I find that the Kings bottom lines are much more effective with a player like Vey inserted into the lineup, and it also alleviates some minutes from the top centermen. A little more gas in the tank late in a game, maybe on a big penalty kill, can make all the difference. An eyeball test?
Lewis/Pearson - Stoll - Frattin
Pearson/Carcillo - Vey - Nolan
That's not bad at all right? Now if only those third line wings could get scoring, but that's another blog for another day. Maybe we even see Dwight King move down and Pearson move up to the top six? Doubtful, but always possible. If you haven't noticed by now Sutter is an in-game juggler when it comes to line combos.
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In closing wether or not Pearson gets his shot this season or on this trip, his time is coming. Also, wether or not Vey stays in the NHL after these injuries are sorted out remains to be seen. To me his effect has been significant in the small sample size we have had and it will be interesting to see how it plays out moving forward. One thing for sure, between Vey, Toffoli, and Pearson the King prospects are making a push this season.
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