Colorado Avalanche Rumors: Analyzing the LA Kings as Trade Partners

Jake Muzzin

Muzzin is having a down year this year. After putting up two straight 40+ point seasons, he is on pace for just 26 points. However, he is strangely on pace to pot a career-high 11 goals.

Nonetheless, Muzzin has some intriguing underlying numbers. He eats up a ton of minutes, he has a 55.7 Corsi-for percentage and starts in the defensive zone the fourth most on the L.A. Kings.

And even though he doesn’t have the best takeaway/giveaway numbers, he is still much better than one big name player on the LA Kings.

For example, he has a higher Corsi-for percentage than Drew Doughty, has given up the puck 19 less times, and starts in the defensive zone more often than Doughty.

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Obviously Drew Doughty is a real special player, and he is certainly a better player than Jake Muzzin, but those are some interesting numbers nonetheless.

If Muzzin can get his point production back on pace, he might be a good option for the Avs to consider. He’s signed at 4 million over the next three years, and would give the Avs a nice middle pairing defenseman to build around.

The Avs would shed some more cap in that kind of a deal as well. And, they would still be able to go out and chase a young top-pairing defenseman in the draft, or in another trade.

However, in any Muzzin deal, the Avs would need to demand some other pieces. Let’s take a look at a couple.