Muzzin hasn't played since suffering an injury in the preseason game against the Avalanche in Colorado Springs on October 2. Though he has been practicing with the team, he hasn't been cleared to return to game action. Muzzin is expected to get an X-ray on October 23rd, which is three weeks from the day he was injured, a decision on his status should be made after that.

The Kings will pay Muzzin an average of $4 million per year, which is a very reasonable cap-hit for your number-2 defenseman. Muzzin has not played yet this season but is coming off of a 24-point (5G / 19A) year and is just 25-years-old. He has an absolute cannon from the point and that cannon will be on the Kings blueline for five more years.

Muzzin has yet to be medically cleared to play on Tuesday and he expressed doubt over his availability for tomorrow. It sounds like the most likely scenario is for Muzzin to return this weekend when the Kings take on the Stars on Saturday.

Muzzin said he feels like he is close to a return but has not yet been cleared to get back into the lineup. So expect Muzzin to miss his third straight game, but he should be back next week.

Muzzin has missed the first two games of the season, but could make his season debut tonight vs. the Jets. Expect a full update on Muzzin shortly.

Muzzin missed the season opener with what Darryl Sutter called a "frustrating injury". It was announced on Thursday that Muzzin would likely miss a few games, so consider him day-to-day.

Muzzin was on the ice for Kings practice this afternoon, but apparently the injury won't stop him from skating and he may even take warmups, but he will miss a couple more games. Muzzin's fill-in Brayden McNabb was a minus-1 with no shots in 23:27 TOI.

There was no report of an injury to Muzzin until this morning. If he plays he will line up in his usual spot with Drew Doughty, but if he is unable to play, Doughty will play with Brayden McNabb. With only a few games tonight you won't get burned by having him in your lineup in daily leagues.

With the season winding down, there are plenty of young defensemen to mull over when evaluating their present value or future prospects. If you are a fantasy owner amidst contention of your league title or just prepping for next season, the following thoughts should help point your direction toward the right guys or away from the wrong ones: The Tyson Barrie experiment at forward is officially over after two games for Colorado. The Av's blueliner was back on the second defensive pairing with Nick Holden for Tuesday night's game, collecting an assist in 19:47 minutes of ice-time. The 22-year old was on a torrid scoring pace before "cooling off" with 2 points in the last six games. His 31 points in 55 games suggests that he is on the verge of breaking out, so pay close attention to him when drafting your fantasy teams next season. According to Rich Chere of the Newark Star-ledger, rookie defenseman Eric Gelinas of the New Jersey Devils could be mostly utilized at the forward position for the final stretch of games. While the team's brass insists that this move has no long-term implications, it should be interesting to see how it turns out. Gelinas has been a revelation since his initial AHL call-up, flourishing with 27 points (7G/20A) in 53 games. More importantly, he has been extremely productive on the power-play as he has racked up 16 points. Plenty of upside to look forward to, so don't forget him in the middle-late rounds in your drafts come September. So what does Justin Faulk signing a lucrative 6-year, $29 million contract actually mean in the "fantasy" world? Well, with just 24 points in 65 games while spending most of the time on the top power-play unit, I for one expected so much more. Fantasy owners expected more. Heck, I am sure the Hurricanes feel the same, but the fact remains that the 22-year old is one of the best young two-way defenseman in the NHL. The scoring should come for Faulk in the near future as the "big bucks" were finally shelled out. You should just hope that his personal level of motivation has not been mitigated by his big "pay-day". Here is where I stand with the way Jake Gardiner has been used in Toronto. The youngster possesses world-class talent that should have resulted in a 40+ point breakout season by now, but his play in his own zone really needs to improve if he is to permanently get into the good graces of his defensive-minded coach Randy Carlyle. He has been playing much better of late, registering 8 points in ...

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...