Things are starting to look better in the land of the Kings. Some teams in front are stumbling, the Kings are stumbling less, and the playoffs seem more hopeful than earlier times.
They are also going to get a little bit of help on the injury front as Alec Martinez looks set to return soon, and Tanner Pearson is making progress.
In the meantime, with the absence of Mike Richards and Tanner Pearson, Sutter has mixed up his lines to include some interesting personnel in new places.
Trevor Lewis has been a noteworthy performer on the first line for the Kings. He has nine points in his last 13 games and is averaging over 16-17 minutes a night now.
With his new role, Lewis is hitting a career high in pretty much everything and may come close to 30 points if his form holds.
Another player who seems to be benefiting from a bit of a roster shakeup is Jordan Nolan. In the last two games Nolan has played a season high of 14:39 and 14:48. He has been taking regular shifts with Dustin Brown/Justin Williams and Jarret Stoll on the Kings third line. We talked at length about the role of Jordan Nolan and how it could develop when he signed his extension. It seems that Sutter is already pushing that direction a little bit. Whether it be direction from hockey ops or Dean Lombardi or Sutter simply giving the third line a different look, the bottom six has actually been much more effective lately.
The Nolan-Stoll-Williams third line was a positive contributor to possession play on Thursday night against the Canucks. While they struggled against the Canucks top line with the Sedin twins, they were notedly good against the 2nd and 4th lines and broke even with the 3rd.
Despite the decent form against Vancouver, the line struggled heavily against Colorado the previous game. They were run off the ice practically by the Avs 4th line of McLeod-Cliche-Briere. They also didn't have positive numbers against any line they matched up against.
Maybe it is just a short lived different look for Nolan from Darryl Sutter, but he is giving a tiny bit more responsibility to the newly signed winger. That is something that the organization is expecting apparently, and Sutter is doing his part. Slowly but surely. Here is a great quote from Sutter about Nolan from the morning skate of March 5th.
On what he has liked about Jordan Nolan:I think we’re looking for Jordan to complete the power part of his game. I think that it’s something where he’s had trouble staying in the lineup when we are healthy, and it’s not unlike a lot of other young players, but when you’ve had the opportunity to be included in a winning environment, then you should take the next step forward. And that’s what the organization is expecting out of Jordan.
Nolan has a tantalizing skill set. He is as physical as a bottom line player, but also shows hands good enough to play in a more skilled and offensive oriented role. The thinking part of the game definitely has to improve though and that should come with time.
The elevation of Nolan all may also be an effort to get Jarret Stoll going.
Stoll has had a woeful season thus far:
Any sort of different look for No. 28 might be a good look right now.
Is Nolan that answer? Odds are he probably isn't but while the bottom six remains pretty interchangeable why not give it a go. At worst, Nolan backs off to the 4th line and the Kings continue to rotate Lewis, Brown, and Williams into the third line. They are trying things though, and with Nolan signed to a new and somewhat lengthy contract why not?
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