True Hollywood Story: Lecavalier jumping into top-six role with Kings
Anyone who took a quick glance at the Los Angeles Kings line combinations in advance of Tuesday's game against the Dallas Stars may have missed some interesting maneuvering by head coach Darryl Sutter.
Today's lines, pairings:
17-11-73, 70-44-77, 74-22-23, 15-21-12; 3-8, 27-52, 6-5. 13 taking loops with 10. 71 appeared to be an extra.
— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) January 19, 2016
Yes, that's No. 44 centering the second line. As in, the 35-year-old, oft-scratched-in-Philadelphia, recently acquired and supposedly soon-to-be retiring Vincent Lecavalier.
With two goals in his past two games for the Kings, Lecavalier will start the game between Jeff Carter and Tanner Pearson, giving him every opportunity to prove he has some gas left in the tank.
Sutter clearly doesn't see him as an overpriced player with one foot out the door.
"Great players who have had great careers, 100 per cent of the time are really good people, too," Sutter told Eric Duhatschek of The Globe and Mail. "I don't like talking about it, to be quite honest, because to me, he's (still) a great player. That's what I see. On the right team, I see that."
Altogether, Lecavalier has recorded two goals, one assist and eight shots in an average of 12:46 of ice time through five games with the Kings.