One goes up, another goes down

No, this is not a post about Konstantin Pushkarev's latest surge with the Kings, as he deserves one on his own. And might perhaps get one from me here, either later today or tomorrow. The title of this post, though, refers to two veteran new-coming Kings players, both at crucial positions, whose road with the team have been bumpy like... well... bumpy.

I mean Dan Cloutier, gradually going down, and Alyn McCauley, gradually going up.

Cloutier, who's been maligned by pretty much every mental ghost known to mankind on skates, learned yesterday that he would be away from the team for medical reasons, longer than expected. At the moment, the management and player are looking at their options, but it seems the choice is between extended rest and surgery. Both cases mean the Kings' fans and Dan's team-mates won't be seeing him any time soon. Given, his stats this year - it's good news. I wonder if the team could put Cloutier on the extended rest till the end of the season and then ask him, off the record, naturally, to pull a Malakhov. If my understanding is correct, by doing this, the Kings could get the league to classify Cloutier as "permanent IR" and lift his salary from the team's cap number. Long way before that happens, though.

Now, McCauley's "fault" is opposite to Cloutier's. He has not been around the ice-rink at all this season. The veteran center has not dressed for the first 39 games and is only trying to find his grove back from the knee(s) surgery. Coach Marc Crawford uses McCauley pretty cautiously, which is good, given the fact that Alyn's:

"[...] brain sees a play and reacts much quicker than [his] legs will."

One could see him as a dominant third-line center in the latter part of February - winning key face-offs, killing penalties, like he used to do throughout his career so far. I could imagine McCauley being gradually inserted into the lineup with more and more minutes and perhaps around quicker wingers, which could also provide some protection for him. Dustin Brown and Brian Willsie come to mind.

The show must go on, as some actors exit the stage to make room for those who enter.

I might be too exhuberant and poetic on this one, but the consus is there's been little harmony throughout the Kings' season to date.