It's getting interesting in Manchester, NH

(photo courtesy of: www.verizonwirelessarena.com)

The Los Angeles Kings AHL affiliation has been based in Manchester, NH for the last five years. The Monarchs boast a team that has historically been very competitive, reaching the AHL play-offs every single time out of Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester. The Monarchs pre-season started on September 24 with 36 players fighting it out for a place on a final opening day roster.

The funny thing is that while the Kings are stacked up the middle with Conroy, Belanger, Armstrong, McCauley and relatively weak on the wings, the Monarchs are structured exactly the opposite way. Manchester's major scoring line center (Anze Kopitar) might not even start the season in AHL, as this highly touted prospect has already opened some eyes in LA. Behind him, there's really little to write home about. While Matt Ryan is pencilled in for second line duty and Gabe Gauthier can adequately man the third or fourth line, they are relatively less exciting than several Monarch wingers.

Depending on how soon Lauri Tukonen regains full shoulder strength after the injury he suffered last season, himself and Konstantin Pushkarev form a thrilling Euro duo on the first scoring line. The second one loses just half a step with streaking newcomer Matt Moulson on the left wing and Dany Roussin possibly moving over to the right. The checking line should be one of the most exciting (also on the penalty kill) as it features sleek skater Ned Lukacevic and agitator Peter Kanko centered by either Jeff Giuliano or Gauthier. There is plethora of options at fourth line wing with Greg Hogeboom, Noah Clarke, Kris Korchinski and Ryan Murphy vying for final spots.

Some of the center-wingmen balance between Los Angeles and Manchester might get offset with a quite a surprising roster move. And I'm not taking about sending either Mathieu Garon or Jason LaBarbera down as discussed by Monarchs General Manager Ron Hextall.

Much rather, given his quite mediocre pre-season play and the emergence of Kopitar, veteran Derek Armstrong could be heading to the East Coast. A blue-collar worker on his best days, and invisible coaster when he's off his game, Armstrong could jump into the pool of youngster wingers in Manchester to dramatically improve their production right away. And Dean Lombardi and Hextall would not exactly be losing a valuable asset here - a casual glimpse at other teams' rosters assures Armstrong should pass waivers with no second thoughts from other league GMs.

So there's definitely a lot of decisions coming up in the next three days on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Time zones and jet lags will not prevent both teams from paring down their rosters and shuffle players to get ready for NHL and AHL seasons.