Someone Will Have to Go

The wheels began turning to get Jozef Stumpel back into the Kings’ lineup when winger Dan Bylsma cleared waivers Saturday and stood at the front of the line to go to Long Beach.

That would clear a spot on the 23-player roster for Stumpel to come back as early as Wednesday night in San Jose.

Still, Bylsma’s moving down the freeway was no certainty, because if defenseman Garry Galley is deemed unable to play Wednesday after being scratched Saturday, he could be put on injured reserve to accommodate Stumpel.

All those machinations were being tossed about by Dave Taylor, the Kings’ senior vice president and general manager, who had to freeze the team’s roster for a week by late Saturday night.

Barring the unforeseen, Stumpel’s return will be celebrated by a return to the lines the Kings had when they started the season 4-1-1.

“We can go back to the roles we had coming out of training camp,” said winger Luc Robitaille, who was switched to a line with Bryan Smolinski and Glen Murray for Saturday’s game against Chicago in an attempt to get jump-started. Going into that game, Robitaille had one goal and one assist since returning to the lineup after suffering a broken bone in his foot.

“When there are injuries, roles change, and it will be good to get back to the roles we had.”