Kings Gameday: Threeway

One day, Alec Martinez is going to be back in the Kings lineup. Possibly even this season! You heard it here first. According to twitters, Alec is already on the mend and could be back pretty soon. Anyways, once he does rejoin the active roster the Kings will go from having one odd man out on defense to...uh...two? Yes, two! Currently the Kings have Jamie McBain sitting around doing nothing. Here's who shouldn't be coming off the ice:

Drew Doughty - No shit.

Jake Muzzin - Idiotic turnover prone as he is, he's still very good at reading plays. He shoots hard, closes off on defense well, and has great play up the ice nine times out of ten. That one out of ten though makes you want to staple his face to the boards.

Andrej Sekera - Dean Lombardi needs to be digging into couch cushions for loose change to keep adding it to a contract offer for him.

Brayden McNabb - He recently discovered he could shoot the puck, and since being joined with Sekera, McNabb has become a fancy stat beast. He's still a little rough around the edges when it comes to coverage, and gauging his hip check at the blue line. Still, he lands those most of the time and it's very Gandalfian of him (YOU SHALL NOT PASS). That last sentence was very nerdy and has assured I won't get laid for another year.

So that leaves Robyn Regehr, Matt Greene, and the aforementioned McBain. Who stays? Who sits? It's a three-headed monster of hideous, ridiculous, and forgettable qualities!

Robyn "Sucks" Regehr

Case for: Regehr has been seeing a lot tougher deployment, and has been chewing up a lot more minutes since getting paired pretty regularly with Doughty. He had a stretch where he looked steady, reliable, and wasn't getting burned entirely. He's not a terrible penalty killer.

Case against: He's terrible at pretty much every thing else. Especially lately. His passing is limited to passing it to his defensive partner and throwing the puck into the corner. He has virtually no shot. He's gotten burned by guys who most would consider slow, unskilled, or fringe NHLers. He's gotten knocked off the puck by players half his size. His hands are actually pineapples. I fucking hate him. I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU. STOP SUCKING ASS.

Likely to be paired with: Martinez probably. The two of them saw some time together earlier this season and Alec quickly realized why other defensemen looked noticeably worse with Reggie. Outside chance Regehr stays with Doughty.

Matt "Meene (that's not how it's spelled, Matt)" Greene

Case for: Martinez and Greene are the only defensive pairing that was intact for both the Kings Cup runs in 2012 and 2014 (though that was bit late into the playoffs). Greene is guy that excels in limited minutes. He passes better than most people would probably give him credit for, though it's still pretty conservative. He can jump into the offensive play, and has halfway decent shot. He blocks shots. Looks cool bleeding all the time and also sorta looks like Mike from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul on occassion.

Case against: The equipment crew is sick of cleaning blood of his jersey all the time. Greene also gets caught out of position a few times per game. He also takes a lot of stupid penalties at the blue line when forwards inevitably fly by him. Brayden McNabb should give him lessons of how to properly handle those. There's been a few occasions where Greene has ran over his own goalie also, which should probably be discouraged by the Kings' coaching staff. Additionally, Matt has a tendency to make terrifying faces.

Likely to be paired with: Martinez and only Martinez. It's Darryl Sutter's third pairing he knows and loves. Well, at least knows. Both know how the other reacts, and Martinez's speed compliments Greene's physicality. It gives Martinez room to jump up on the rush, and Greene a chance to make riskier passes since Martinez can catch up to most anyone. Unfortunately, neither can defend a two-on-one at all.

Jamie "Who? Him?" McBain

Case for: He hasn't done anything bad lately. McBain isn't a flashy player like McNabb or Doughty, but he makes smart passes and knows when to shoot. He also shoots very well, since we are on the topic. Uh...he provides good Simpsons related content?

Case against: He hasn't done anything good lately. Not a flashy player like McNabb or Doughty. He's rather suspect in his own zone. I think. I really don't remember much about McBain. He's still on the team, right? Also, I think everyone's all out of McBain jokes. There's also enough "Mc" players currently.

Likely to be paired with: The bench. I sort of remember Sutter nailing him to bench for stretches at a time, and I don't know if anything ever really triggered that, besides Darryl just not being confident with him. If he does play, I'd guess he'd go with Muzzin. I wonder what would make up a McMuzzin sandwich? Probably a lot of eggs.

The Kings play the Canucks three times down the last stretch. These games could be classified as "important". Look for the Kings to sleepwalk through each and every one of them while making boneheaded plays regularly.

Also, I'd suggest the Kings go with Greene since McNabb and Sekera have become such a good duo. It doesn't matter though since Alec Martinez probably just wants to go on Summer vacation early and won't show back up.

Prediction: McNekera gets burned for four goals and the Kings lose 4-3. Goals by Carter, Lewis, and Williams.