Los Angeles Kings center Jarret Stoll is experienced enough that he probably doesn’t need to shake off the rust with too many exhibition games, but it sounds like he’d like to get his feet wet heading into the 2014-15 season if he can. At the moment, he has a modest goal: play in at least one preseason contest.
“In a perfect world, it would be three,” Stoll told the Los Angeles Times’ Lisa Dillman.
Stoll also told Dillman that he underwent hip surgery on his 32nd birthday back on June 24 and believes that he suffered the injury during the Kings’ Western Conference final showdown against the Chicago Blackhawks. NHL.com’s Curtis Zupke adds a little more detail about the ailment:
Jarret Stoll said he'd ideally like to play one preseason game but he'll see how recovery goes from bone chip/labrum tear in hip.
— Curtis Zupke (@curtiszupke) September 21, 2014
With the Kings’ roster largely unchanged from the one that battled to a second Stanley Cup triumph in three seasons, the plus side to taking it easy is that it’s not as if there are a lot of enormous changes to become acquainted with.
Stoll has 719 regular season games of NHL experience and has been with Los Angeles since 2008-09. Granted, he’d probably like to pump his value coming into a contract year in which his $3.25 million salary cap hit might seem a bit much, but overall it’s not that big of a conundrum for the Kings.