Based on what's been discussed and in the past 24 hours, reported coming out of practice for head coach Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings, it wouldn't be surprising to see the team make some lineup changes for the active roster going into Monday evening's matchup on the road against the Wild in Minnesota.
Could splitting up Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin be a fix for the Los Angeles Kings' defense vs. the Wild early this week on Monday?
Hiller and the Kings allowed too many goals in their own defensive zone and had discipline issues with special teams in the season's first full week in the past three games.
Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider reported on Oct. 13 that the Kings ran some different line combinations with the defensive pairings in practice in Minnesota this past weekend on Sunday.
It sounds like changes and a handful of adjustments are expected to be made to the Kings' projected roster for this evening's matchup against the Wild, with the top-nine forward core and the blue line on defense. Among the expected changes is potentially moving forward Joel Armia up from the fourth-line forward group to the second or third line at the wing position for the Kings against the Wild today.
With the forward group, there is a possibility that Hiller tries out a new fourth-line forward combination, potentially including big center Samuel Helenius. Jeff Malott has been a reliable and consistent winger for Hiller and the Kings on the fourth line early this regular season, but it's not out of the realm of possibility for the coaching staff to shake things up after two losses in the past week for the team.
I wouldn't expect anything but an upgrade for the spot in the lineup for Armia, though, given how highly Hiller has spoken of him in press conferences and various reports in the past week or so for the Kings.
"He’s a really, really smart player. That’s one thing that’s become very clear. You can see some of the offensive plays, but he's just a really, really smart player with and without the puck."Jim Hiller on Joel Armia
For the defensive group, it was reported over the weekend that the Kings worked with some new blue-line pairings for the first time this fall since the start of the regular season this past week.
The Kings' defensive pairing of Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci has not performed very well for the team in the season's first three games, according to most advanced metrics and the overall analytics.
In practice yesterday, Hiller reportedly moved around some pieces to put Drew Doughty with Dumoulin on one defensive pairing, and Ceci with Mikey Anderson for another group on the blue line for the Kings.
I don't think there will necessarily be a new top defensive pairing for the Kings tonight against the Wild and star forward Kirill Kaprizov. The Kings probably need to work more situational matchups and work the hot hand in the offensive zone to figure out different rotations for the defensive pairings in the zone tonight against Minnesota in Saint Paul.
Maybe this could be a resolution for the Kings' defensive and special teams woes after the team allowed an average of over three goals per game in the season's two losses in the past week against the Jets and the Avs.