Willie Mitchell to the Kings
Jeff Angus
2010-08-26
Fantasy Impact: The Los Angeles Kings have signed defensive defenseman Willie Mitchell to a two-year contract worth $3.5 million per season.
The Kings get: A steady defensive defenseman who can log very tough minutes. Mitchell has no fantasy value but his presence will affect the fantasy value of quite a few Los Angeles players. He is coming off of a severe concussion (the third of his career), and the Kings were the only team willing (or desperate enough) to give him a commitment longer than one year.
Fantasy Players Impacted: Mitchell will probably slide in on the second pairing with Jack Johnson, leaving Rob Scuderi to skate with Drew Doughty. He makes a decent first pass for a shutdown defenseman, and he'll raise Johnson's plus-minus quite a bit. A defenseman like Mitchell is also a goaltenders best friend.
With Matt Greene out for the first few months of the season, the Kings were desperate to add a quality top four defenseman. I see their pairings right now as:
Doughty-Scuderi
Mitchell-Johnson
Hickey-Drewiskie
Greene will slide in on the bottom pairing once he is healthy.
Players this helps, in order:
1. Jonathan Quick
2. Jonathan Bernier
3. Jack Johnson
4. Drew Doughty
Players this hurts, in order:
1. None.