For the first time since he played in a May 1st playoff game for the Boston Bruins, Marco Sturm looks like he’ll skate in an NHL game tonight. Rich Hammond reports that the speedy German winger will make his Los Angeles Kings debut tonight against the Colorado Avalanche in a “fourth line role.”
Who knows how far along the oft-injured forward really is on his road to recovery from a nagging knee injury, but Hammond writes that Kings coach Terry Murray is “itching” to get him into the lineup. Murray reportedly wants to eventually play Sturm on the first line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown.
The general mood is that tonight’s assignment is meant to allow Sturm to get his legs under him in a game situation. On some level, you wonder if the Kings are rushing him back. Yet from the other point of view, if Sturm truly wants to continue his NHL career, he needs to get back to playing again.
Here is what Murray said about Sturm’s return.