Norton’s Injury Latest Setback for the Defense

Even if it doesn’t want to, the defense rests. It has to. There are simply too many injuries.

The Kings took another hit in the blue line Tuesday night, this time when Brad Norton went down with a lacerated forearm. He is expected to miss three months, which leaves the injury-depleted Kings thinner than a shoestring on defense.

Aaron Miller is week-to-week with a fractured wrist, prospect Denis Grebeshkov has been slowed by a forearm injury, and Jaroslav Modry only recently was cleared to play after having off-season shoulder surgery. Not to mention that Maxim Kuznetsov is still delayed in Russia because of visa problems stemming from a drunken-driving arrest five years ago.

With the season opener in Detroit a week away, Coach Andy Murray said he wasn’t concerned about the possibility of relying on untested but promising defensemen Tim Gleason, Martin Strbak and Tomas Zizka, at least for now. Only Zizka has NHL experience after playing 10 games last year.

“We’ve got some young guys who have proven in camp they can play,” Murray said. “In other years it might have been more severe than it is now, but fortunately there’s some depth there.”

Murray also singled out Bryan Muir, a free-agent acquisition who played 32 games with the Colorado Avalanche last season, and Jason Holland, who spent almost all last season with King minor-league affiliate Manchester (N.H.), as having solid training camps.

Modry, who tied for third in team scoring last season, might play in Friday’s exhibition finale against the Mighty Ducks at the Arrowhead Pond, Murray said.

Norton, a versatile veteran who also can play wing, underwent successful emergency surgery Tuesday night at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix after two tendons in his lower forearm were sliced by a skate during the Kings’ 6-1 victory over the Coyotes.

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The Kings left nine players unprotected for Friday’s NHL waiver draft: forwards Steve Kelly, Pavel Rosa, Chris Schmidt, Jon Sim and John Tripp; defensemen Jan Nemecek, Joe Rullier and Richard Seeley; and goaltender Milan Hnilicka.

Several noteworthy players around the league were left unprotected, but they would be difficult for almost any team to select because of salary considerations. Such players included goaltenders Curtis Joseph (Detroit) and Arturs Irbe (Carolina); forwards Pavel Bure (New York Rangers), Theo Fleury (Chicago), Robert Reichel (Toronto), Travis Green (Toronto), Claude Lemieux (Dallas) and Mariusz Czerkawski (New York Islanders); and defenseman Chris Therien (Philadelphia).

Each team protected 18 skaters and two goaltenders. The Kings have the 13th selection in the first round of Friday’s draft, if they choose to execute it.

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The Kings came back from a three-goal deficit to tie the San Jose Sharks, 3-3, in an exhibition game Wednesday at Arco Arena in Sacramento. Eric Belanger, Josef Stumpel and Esa Pirnes scored in a 2:36 span near the end of the second period for the Kings.