EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Kings defenceman Drew Doughty needs surgery to repair his broken left ankle and is expected to miss most of the season.
Coach Jim Hiller said Friday the injury is not season-ending, adding that the team expects Doughty back at some point. Hiller did not provide a timeline, and the Kings have listed Doughty on their injury report as “month-to-month.”
Doughty was injured during the first period of Wednesday’s preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights. The 34-year-old, who is going into his 17th season, had his left leg caught up against the boards near the blue line in the Kings’ defensive zone as he was battling for a loose puck with Vegas forward Tanner Pearson.
Doughty, who won the Norris Trophy in 2016 as the league’s top defenceman, is one of the remaining links to Los Angeles’ Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014. He was second in the NHL in time on ice this past season, averaging 25:48, and led Kings defencemen with 15 goals and 35 assists. He had missed only one game the past two seasons.
The loss of Doughty leaves Los Angeles with two spots to replace in its top four on defence to start Hiller’s first full season. Matt Roy, who was second on the team in ice time, assists and points, signed a six-year contract with the Washington Capitals on July 1.
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The Kings have two promising young players to try and fill those roles in Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence.
Clarke, the eighth overall pick in the 2021 draft, is set to play his first full NHL season after getting two goals and six assists in 25 games over the previous two campaigns. The 21-year-old is regarded as a potentially dynamic offensive contributor but is likely to need time to adjust to being a two-way defender at this level.
Spence, 23, had two goals and 22 assists in 71 games. He worked primarily on the third defensive pairing and ran the second power play.