It appears that Box 12 defenseman Alec Martinez was that one that made room for the return of Willie Mitchell on the Kings' blueline, when the team took on the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Monday night. Martinez has 2 goals in 19 games this season and was likely expected to do a little bit more, but the overall scope of the Kings has just about everyone underachieving there, hence the coaching change. Mitchell was returning from a lower-body injury, which has been keeping him out of the line-up from time to time.
With Chris Campoli healthy again and P.K. Subban not sick enough to be held out of the Habs' line-up on Monday night, that meant that Box 29 defenseman Yannick Weber was the seventh defenseman for the game against the Bruins on Monday night and the team didn't dress seven defensemen, so Weber was a healthy scratch. There is a pretty good chance that Weber may be on a rotation with Rafael Diaz for that sixth position, assuming that the new coaching regime in Montreal will be looking to keep some of these defenders fresh for the rest of the season.
Speaking of seventh defensemen at the moment, I think we can now qualify that position has officially descended upon Leafs Box 30 defenseman Keith Aulie, as he has now figured to be a healthy scratch on more than a few occasions over the past few weeks. I am somewhat surprised that the Leafs haven't sent Aulie down to the minors to start picking up some valuable ice-time minutes with the Marlies of the AHL, but with how quickly things can turn in a season, keeping Aulie up just in case is the safest possible route.
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