The Los Angeles Kings placed Brayden McNabb on injured reserve on Sunday.
While this move doesn’t devastate the Kings’ roster quite like Jonathan Quick’s absence does, it’s another tough blow to Los Angeles, a team also without Marian Gaborik for quite some time.
McNabb is a big defenseman who’s been taking on an increasing role with the Kings. He went from averaging about 16 minutes in 2014-15 to almost 19 in 2015-16 and is now at 20:14 time on ice per contest through this young season.
The Kings have been able to stay in (and often win) recent contests by protecting Peter Budaj and hogging the puck, so this stings Darryl Sutter’s crew.
Los Angeles faces the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night.