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With Kings sliding, will Lombardi make a trade?

Calgary Flames v Los Angeles Kings

Calgary Flames v Los Angeles Kings

Juan Ocampo

Dustin Brown thinks it’s a matter of emotion. And maybe there’s something to his argument. The way the Kings play when they’re successful takes commitment.

But Darryl Sutter disagrees. He doesn’t think his team’s problems have as much to do with emotion as they do with a different “personnel.”

“We’re not the same team,” Sutter said after last night’s 4-0 loss to Washington, per L.A. Kings Insider. “It’s a quite a bit different team.”

The biggest difference is on the blue line, where Willie Mitchell is no longer and Slava Voynov may or may not be again. The result is Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin logging around four minutes more per game -- Doughty’s averaging 29:20, compared to 25:42 last season -- and Brayden McNabb playing, period.

And it makes one wonder if frustrated GM Dean Lombardi will be active at the trade deadline, perhaps acquiring one of the available right-shooting defensemen to replace Voynov.

Because make no mistake, the Kings are in trouble. Nobody’s counting them out -- never count out the Kings -- but according to Sports Club Stats, their chances of making the playoffs have fallen to 30.9 percent.

The Kings play Thursday in Florida and Saturday in Tampa Bay before finishing off their five-game road trip Monday in Columbus.