Player evaluation: Moulson

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MATT MOULSON
This season: 7 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, 2 penalty minutes, 14:30 average ice time.
The good: Moulson was one of the training camp “winners,” as he impressed Terry Murray enough to earn a spot on the team at the start of the season. Moulson played in seven of the Kings’ first 10 games and had some first-line time but eventually got sent down to Manchester. With the Monarchs, Moulson had his third consecutive 20-goal season.
The bad: Moulson is just sort of “there,” seemingly not going forward and not going backward. At age 25, he’s not old, but he’s also on the wrong end of the age curve. As the Kings’ depth chart gets filled with progressively younger players, it’s going to be easier for Moulson to simply fall off the radar. His AHL numbers have been decent, but nothing to suggest that he’s due for a NHL breakthrough.
Going forward: It’s certainly not out of the question that Moulson could earn a roster spot out of training camp — if the Kings bring him back (he’s a restricted free agent this summer) — but it’s more likely that he would continue to fill the role he has filled for the last two seasons, as the guy who hops on an L.A.-bound plane when someone strains a groin muscle.

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