Stumpel

The procedure is scheduled to be performed on Monday by Dr. Craig Smith, according to the team.

Smith performed a similar operation on Kings left wing Luc Robitaille during the 1997-98 season.

"He's better off doing it now than trying to play on it and doing it later," Robitaille said. "We're obviously going to miss him because he's our No. 1 center, but I'd rather have him back after Christmas and in the playoffs totally healthy than just on one leg."

Stumpel, who led the Kings in scoring two seasons ago with 79 points, has two goals and 13 assists in 15 games this season after injuries limited him to 64 games last year.

"The last couple of weeks it was getting worse and worse," Stumpel said shortly before the Kings played Saturday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers. "I started to feel it in my groin and it's been going to my stomach lately. But I don't know exactly when it happened because I've had problems with my back and my hip flexor since last season started."

The 27-year-old Stumpel is the second member of the team's top line to go down in a span of two days. Robitaille is expected to be out 2-6 weeks with a broken foot.

"It's going to be tough with two of our top scorers out, but it's an opportunity for a couple of our other guys," general manager Dave Taylor said. "It will test our depth, but we'll do our best."