Player evaluation: Moulson
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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J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra@inlandnewspapers.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews
.com.
Vincent Bonsignore is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Vinny at vincent.bonsignore
@dailynews.com.
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More to the point, Moulson will be one of those guys that, if he is not tendered an offer by the Kings, will sign a two way deal with another of the bottom feeder teams in the NHL in the hopes of grabbing a final roster spot, but more than likely will spend the majority of his time shoring up that team's AHL squad, and doing a reasonably good job of it. Guys like this have to make the decision of how many years they want to ply their trade in the A, go off to Europe, or apply their education to something potentially more suitable.
I like his attitude, but he's not an NHL'er(at this point.
he played? oh yeah I remember...
If Calder is gone, that certainly helps Moulson's chances for next year. I don't know, I liked what I saw him last year, and thought he played well this year but in the wrong role. Now though, he could not get a QO and I wouldn't think twice about it.
yeah...i don't see much of a future for moulson w/the kings...
he probably won't get re-signed and will be invited to training camp somewhere, if not here...
there are just too many of these type of question mark players hanging around...i gather that moulson will find a good career in the minors and be a plugger when injury occurs...just like hammer said...
Moulson is not an RFA; he's a UFA (VI), which is the designation for players over the age of 25, who have played three professional seasons and played fewer than 80 games in the NHL.
Who knows, maybe Moulson will turn out like Peverly or something, dumped by one team for nothing and picked up by another where he slots right in the system and thrives.
Moulson will definitely find a home somewhere. He's a left wing (always coveted); he's got the skill set; he's affordable. It comes down to a bunch of stuff we can't know, whether Moulson wants to play for the Kings, likes TM and/or DL, whether they value him or think he's useful. it will be easy to lose him, since he can sign anywhere and the Kings -- who have announced they will be big players in the UFA market this summer -- appear to have their sights set a bit higher.
I actually give Moulson about the same odds as Boyle of sticking in the NHL. Moulson's offensive upside is at least what Boyle's is. He's a kid who could easily show up on another team scoring quite a few goals, causing us to gnash our teeth in frustration and shame.
I agree with Marc Nathan on this one.
In baseball..Moulson would be the equivalent of a AAAA player. Better than AHL...not good enough for the NHL.
He's had a few good games, but nothing to indicate he could help this team in any way other than injury replacement.
I would like to see him come back. He played very well in the Manchester games I watched. And obviously, left wing is the Kings Achilles heel.
If Moulson has such a good attitude, and he chooses to stay close to the NHL instead of Europe or Russia, he could end up being the next Army for some team, not really getting a shot until his early 30's. There is something about Moulson I do really like. Hey, Tim Thomas wasn't that special for the first 10 or so years of his career.
Isn't he named after a Canadian beer? Oh wait, that's http://www.molsoncanadian.com/
At least has the Canadian part down. Nevermind.
See ya, wouldn't want to be ya.
I think he was miscast on the first line with Kopi. The Kings expected too much from him. I think he will have a great AHL career and maybe even fill in a much needed slot with some NHL team (that is not the Kings).
I agree with Rich's analysis 100%.
Moulson is a great third or fourth liner that can fit a role. I don't see much more than that though.