Marian Gaborik signed a 7-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings, clearly benefiting from the chemistry he built with C Anze Kopitar after being acquired at the trade deadline. Gaborik finished the Stanley Cup playoffs with 22 points, 14 of those were goals which led the playoffs.  Gaborik has always been known as a prolific scorer, but he is also known for getting injured quite often.  That's why the 7-year deal is a rather risky investment.  If he stays healthy, and that's a big IF, and shows the kind of chemistry with Kopitar that he displayed upon his arrival in LA, he can be fantasy gold. LA has been busy as they continued wrapping up their free agents and signed defenseman Matt Greene to a 3-year deal on the heels of their Stanley Cup championship. Greene is a steady factor on the Kings defense and will be part of a very god Kings defensive corps for years to come.  UFA defenseman Willie Mitchell is on the cusp of re-signing with the club is the latest word. The Edmonton Oilers are shoring up their defense by signing D Nikita Nikitin to a 2-year deal after acquiring him from the Columbus Blue Jackets prior to the free agency period. Nikitin adds defensive depth and can contribute some on offense.  A good signing by the Oil. Ryan Callahan signed a 6-year deal to remain in Tampa Bay when all indications pointed to the Lightning were preparing to let him walk. Rumor had it that Callahan would be signing somewhere in the Northeast like Buffalo, but will now remain in sunny Florida. Ryan Malone was bought out of his contract and is now an UFA.  It was a good move by the Bolts as they are in the process of bringing up the young talent that has been developing in their farm system. Some depth signings in Carolina as the Hurricanes signed D Ron Hainsey to a 3-year deal and C Nathan Gerbe to a 2-year contract. Both are complementary players with Gerbe having some offensive upside if given the opportunity. Sidney Crosby adds to his trophy case by adding the Hart, the Art Ross trophy and the Ted Lindsay award. Crosby deserves every piece of hardware as he has molded himself into an all-around NHL Superstar.

Marian Gaborik signed a 7-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings, clearly benefiting from the chemistry he built with C Anze Kopitar after being acquired at the trade deadline. Gaborik finished the Stanley Cup playoffs with 22 points, 14 of those were goals which led the playoffs.  Gaborik has always been known as a prolific scorer, but he is also known for getting injured quite often.  That's why the 7-year deal is a rather risky investment.  If he stays healthy, and that's a big IF, and shows the kind of chemistry with Kopitar that he displayed upon his arrival in LA, he can be fantasy gold.  LA has been busy as they continued wrapping up their free agents and signed defenseman Matt Greene to a 3-year deal on the heels of their Stanley Cup championship. Greene is a steady factor on the Kings defense and will be part of a very god Kings defensive corps for years to come.  UFA defenseman Willie Mitchell is on the cusp of re-signing with the club is the latest word. The Edmonton Oilers are shoring up their defense by signing D Nikita Nikitin to a 2-year deal after acquiring him from the Columbus Blue Jackets prior to the free agency period. Nikitin adds defensive depth and can contribute some on offense.  A good signing by the Oil. Ryan Callahan signed a 6-year deal to remain in Tampa Bay when all indications pointed to the Lightning were preparing to let him walk. Rumor had it that Callahan would be signing somewhere in the Northeast like Buffalo, but will now remain in sunny Florida.  Ryan Malone was bought out of his contract and is now an UFA.  It was a good move by the Bolts as they are in the process of bringing up the young talent that has been developing in their farm system. Some depth signings in Carolina as the Hurricanes signed D Ron Hainsey to a 3-year deal and C Nathan Gerbe to a 2-year contract. Both are complementary players with Gerbe having some offensive upside if given the opportunity.  Sidney Crosby adds to his trophy case by adding the Hart, the Art Ross trophy and the Ted Lindsay award. Crosby deserves every piece of hardware as he has molded himself into an all-around NHL Superstar.

Greene hasn't played since leaving the Kings' 1-0 win over Vancouver on January 13 during the second period. Darryl Sutter said on January 21 that the injury was a concussion. Greene, who will likely see time with multiple defensive partners, indicated that he expects to start alongside Willie Mitchell.

Greene was in injured in a contest against the Predators on November 2. The upper-body injury will keep him out of the Kings lineup for an extended period of time, but is unrelated to back surgery he had last season.

The Gretzky Era ended in Los Angeles when the Kings traded the Great One to the St. Louis Blues in 1995-1996 and you would think the team would flounder without the presence of Gretzky in the lineup. The Kings however were able to qualify for the playoffs in 4 of the next six season but without much success; losing in the 1st or 2nd round. The Kings went on to miss the playoffs for the next 3 years and prompted management to hire Dean Lombardi in April of 2006 to right the ship.  And right the ship he did!  Even though the team missed the playoffs in his first 3 years as GM, he was building a Championship caliber team in Tinseltown.  In 2009-2010 the Kings returned to the playoffs but lost in the 1st round and repeated the same results the following season. In 2011-2012, with more than half a season left, Darryl Sutter was brought in to coach and the Kings barely eked into the playoffs but went on such a tremendous run through the playoffs capturing their 1st Stanley Cup. Their efforts to repeat were thwarted by the current Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks, but we can see them returning for another chance to raise the Cup. Goalie When you start with the perhaps one of the top 3 goaltenders in the NHL, your chances of getting to the Stanley Cup finals are greater than most teams. Your odds increase when that goalie is none other than Conn Smythe trophy winner Jonathan Quick.  Quick was hampered by injuries early last season but should return to form for the current year.  Although they traded away Jonathan Bernier, they did receive back Ben Scrivens in that deal and he is more than a capable backup, although he is no Bernier.  Expect Quick to get majority of the starts and should post better than average stats.  You can do no wrong with building your fantasy team around Quick. Defense The blue line begins with Drew Doughty but there is a new star-in-the-making coming up quickly. Ever since his sophomore season where he scored 59 points in a full season, high expectations have been put upon his shoulders by fantasy poolies but he has never come close to that level since.  He did have 40 and 36 point seasons following that career year, but that is about all you can expect from DD.   Slava Voynov is entering his 3rd NHL season and after a somewhat breakout year in the Lockout season with 25 points in 48 games, he turned it up in the playoffs with a 6-7-13 performance in 18 games. Look for Voynov to continue that trend.  With injuries on the back end...

Greene has been plagued by injuries all season. He only appeared in five regular season games for the Kings.

We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if Greene will play in the finale.

Getting Greene back will be a nice little boost for the Kings.

Greene has not played since Jan 19 and will provide vital defensive depth for the Kings down the stretch. Expect Greene to suit up tonight.

Green was injured in the season opener and required back surgery to repair a herniated disc. The expectation is that Greene would be available for the opening round of the playoffs.