Drew Doughty Getting Overplayed For Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty is playing in nearly half of every game

Two weeks back, Los Angeles Kings head coach Darryl Sutter expressed his displeasure with the number of minutes blue liner Drew Doughty was getting per night.

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In recent weeks, Doughty has played in three separate games where he logged over thirty minutes of ice time; his season average has skyrocketed to 28:58 per game, which is miles above every other player on the ice.

The Kings have very little choice in the matter — their former top-minutes defenseman, Slava Voynov, has been indefinitely suspended by the league, and fellow top-four blue liner Alec Martinez nearly had his finger sliced off earlier this month — but that doesn’t mean they’re thrilled about it. With a heavier workload coming up in the next few weeks, the reigning Stanley Cup champions will need Doughty fresh for every game; when he’s playing thirty minutes a night, that can be kind of tricky.

The team was previously without any cap space, as Voynov’s suspension had not erased his $4 million cap hit. He’s since been placed on injured reserve — but with a slew of teams needing reinforcements on the blue line and only a few teams touting defensemen to spare, that may not make much of a difference for the team.

Drew Doughty himself won’t admit that he’s being worn out, but it’s clear that he needs a break; when asked about his minutes, the 24-year-old suggested that he’s going to try and cut back his ice time by about three seconds per shift.

That’ll only equal about a minute and a half less on the ice per game — but if that’s all the team can afford, they suppose they’ll have to take it.

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