Sleeksays

The Kings signed defenseman Matt Greeene to a 5-year deal worth about $2.95 million dollars, ensuring that they'll always be able to balance out all their good puck-moving defensemen with a guy that couldn't handle the puck if you taped it to his stick. This is a weird deal. I've liked what I've seen from Matt Greene so far and he could very well be worth this kind of contract, but why give it to him now? Why not wait until the end of the season and see how Greene holds up? Apparently if Patrick O'Sullivan wanted a big deal from the Kings he should have gotten hurt for most of last season. The Kings are hoping Matt Greene will eventually become just like Sean O'Donnell was on the Ducks, a solid defensive defenseman that can skate on a primary shutdown line with Jack Johnson while also chipping in 3+ minutes on the penalty kill. The name thrown around for Greene when he was with the Oiler was Jason Smith and that doesn't seem that unreasonable. Still, ...

(Scroll down past this post if you want to see one of Earl's crazy charts. Yeah, I wouldn't either.) I was lying in bed trying to think of how I'd integrate Patrick O'Sullivan back into the lineup and I came up with this: The first game, I'd bench him. I'd take him to my office and explain that there are 22 other guys in the locker room that worked hard the past 2 weeks to get a chance to play in the NHL and I was going to reward him for that. Plus, he's still a little out of game shape and I don't want him getting hurt. The second game, I'd suit him up. I'd let his name get announced in front of the Staples Center crowd and let him experience a big ovation to let him know that the fans welcome him back and everything's okay. I'd only play him maybe 4 or 5 minutes, though, and scratch Ivanans. Let Calder skate on the 4th line and use Patty sparingly. I'd sit him the 3rd game against Anaheim so he can work on his conditioning and...