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Muzzin projected to play in opener, Greene still up in the air

Edmonton Oilers v Los Angeles Kings

Jake Muzzin

NHLI via Getty Images

The Los Angeles Kings’ defense might be in a solid state going into the season after all.

They suffered a scare on Sunday when blueliners Jake Muzzin and Matt Greene suffered upper-body injuries, but while the Kings didn’t initially provide much in the way of information about their status, the latest news about Muzzin has been encouraging.

He has missed four straight practices, but Muzzin did skate on Thursday and expected to be available for the Kings’ season opener on Oct. 7. Getting him back is very important for the Kings as he often plays alongside Drew Doughty and provided them with an average of 22:41 minutes per game last season.

“I was a little scared, a little nervous, but we had it looked at,” Muzzin told the Orange County Register.

Greene’s situation is murkier though. He hasn’t participated in a practice since the injury either, but his absence is more problematic because he had already missed part of training camp due to an illness. In total, Greene has been limited to 10 minutes of preseason ice time, so he might not be able to recover and get back into game shape before the season opener.

If Greene is unavailable, it would be a setback for the Kings, but a more modest one as he played in a limited role last season.