“Being named captain of an NHL team is something I’m truly honored by, and it’s something I take great pride in,” Doughty said. “I try to compete as hard as I possibly can every single day for this team, and winning is what fuels me, it’s why I keep pushing to get better and chase success. The Kings mean everything to me. I’ve played my entire career here, and I want to lead this team by example, showing what it means to be a King and what it takes to win championships.”
Doughty is the 15th captain in Kings history, and he’ll be joined in the leadership group by forwards Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin and defenseman Mikey Anderson as alternate captains.
Like Kopitar, Doughty has played his entire career with the Kings, 18 seasons since he was the No. 2 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft. He is the franchise leader among defensemen in points (709), goals (165), assists (544) and games played (1,279). He also holds the franchise Stanley Cup Playoff records for a defenseman in each of those categories, with 61 points, 19 goals and 42 assists in 105 games.
Doughty helped lead the Kings to the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014 and won the Norris Trophy in 2016 as the League’s top defenseman. He twice won gold with Team Canada in the Olympic Games, at Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014, before taking silver at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.
“Drew Doughty has earned this,” Kings general manager and vice president Ken Holland said. “He’s a champion who’s won Stanley Cups and competed at the highest level of this game for a long time, and he’s shown he can lead this team but he way he competes every day. That’s the standard we want to set, and there’s no one better to set it than Drew.”