Fansided

Kings need to lock down Drew Doughty, within reason

By Brad Berreman

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 5: Drew Doughty #8 of the Los Angeles Kings handles the puck during a game against the Minnesota Wild at STAPLES Center on April 5, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 5: Drew Doughty #8 of the Los Angeles Kings handles the puck during a game against the Minnesota Wild at STAPLES Center on April 5, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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With one year remaining on his deal, the Los Angeles Kings appear intent on keeping Drew Doughty from hitting the market.

A little over a year out, the 2019 NHL free agent market looks to be robust. Defenseman Drew Doughty is one of the biggest names in line to be available, but according to Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet, he and the Los Angeles Kings are making progress on a contract extension. The two sides can announce a deal as soon as July 1.

Doughty and Erik Karlsson are 1 and 1A as the top defenseman in the (potential) 2019 free agent class. Doughty has a $7.65 base salary and a $7 million cap hit for next season, and he’s in line for a significant raise after setting a career-high in points (60) with a plus-23 plus/minus (second-best of his career) this past season.

To that end Doughty has said he would be consulting with Karlsson, with both guys wanting to top P.K. Subban’s $9 million salary.

“Right now, I guess we’d be gauging off what P.K. makes. I think both of us deserve quite a bit more than that,” Doughty said.

Kypreos backed up that notion, suggesting the Kings will pay Doughty on a comparable level to center Anze Kopitar.

“They understand in LA that Kopitar is the highest paid at $10 million but he will not get much higher than that, [maybe] 10-and-a-half, 11. But if they’re going to compete… it can’t go past a Connor McDavid contract,”

Doughty’s streak of five straight years in the top-10 of Norris Trophy voting, including a win of the award in 2017, ended this year. But he is showing no obvious signs of statistical decline, and he’s got some prime years left at 28 years old.

But a contract going much beyond five or six years, at $10 million a year, would become a tough pill for the Kings to swallow as Doughty crosses into his mid-30s. He has missed just four total games over the last six seasons, and never more than six games in any of his 10 NHL seasons, but advancing age naturally brings injury concerns.

Next: Florida Panthers: 5 free agents to bring them back to playoffs

Doughty was a key cog in both of the Kings’ Stanley Cup runs, with a total of 34 points in the 2012 and 2014 playoffs. But there’s a line to be drawn between nostalgia/sentiment and future reality. As long as the Kings drive contract negotiations based on the latter, keeping Doughty around should not be difficult.

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