EL SEGUNDO, CA — While most of the shockwaves surrounding the Los Angeles Kings franchise were focused on Anze Kopitar announcing his retirement following the season, there happens to be another underlying aspect for the club that remains a major x-factor for this upcoming season.
If there were two, now there will be only one. After this season, only one member will remain from the cup championed seasons of 2012 and 2014. That alone is Drew Doughty, who opened up to the media and conveyed that he had a successful ankle procedure done right after the season. That is twice now that Doughty has had severe injuries in the last four seasons.
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Few players in Kings history embody the franchise’s identity as much as Doughty. A cornerstone of two Stanley Cups, a Norris Trophy winner, and a future Hall of Famer, Doughty has carried the blue line through eras of triumph and turbulence. As the Kings enter the 2025–26 season, the spotlight on him might be as bright as it has been for quite some time. For this team to truly navigate its stagnation over the past four years, marked by lateral passes, Doughty doesn’t just need to be good; he needs a renaissance year while also directing the future of the defensive core.
The State of the Blue Line
The Kings enter this season with arguably their deepest forward group in the Blake-Holland era. Quinton Byfield’s rise, Adrian Kempe’s scoring, a full season of the Andrei Kuzmenko effect, and the reinforcement of the bottom six through savvy signings in the form of Corey Perry (will miss 6-8 weeks after successful knee surgery) and Joel Armia have turned the offense into a worthy adversary for any opposing defensive unit schema. But the defense remains questionable at best.
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Vladislav Gavrikov’s departure to the Rangers in free agency and Jordan Spence’s trade to Ottawa have left the unit with more questions than answers. Veterans Cody Ceci, Brian Dumoulin, and Joel Edmundson provide depth, but none project as a bona fide number three defenseman. That means the weight falls on Mikey Anderson and, more critically, on Doughty.
Numbers pulled from NaturalStatTrick
For years, Doughty and Anderson have formed one of the NHL’s most trusted shutdown pairings. But asking them to log 25+ minutes nightly against the West’s elite, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Jack Eichel, with turbulent results over the last four-plus seasons. Going into the next season without a reliable second-pairing support is nothing short of a gamble.
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At 35, Doughty is at the stage where most defensemen transition into complementary roles. Instead, he is still strongly positioned to remain the Kings’ mainstay on the backend. For this franchise, that’s nothing new, yet it’s something to keep an eye on.
Doughty has a career time on ice (TOI) average of above 26 minutes per game (26:10). Still, he averaged the lowest TOI in his career since the 2013-14 season, when the Kings’ soon-to-be championship defensive core was composed of premier defenders. Last season’s change essentially has to do with the fact that Doughty was coming off another serious injury, Gavrikov largely absorbed the minutes as the team’s top shutdown player, and the Kings had two young right-handed puck-moving defenders who ate up the minutes for offensive situations typically required by the team’s number one.
Well, Gavrikov is gone, and so is Spence. The team brought in sub-replacement defenders at even strength and shorthanded in Ceci and Dumoulin. To this point, the Kings can no longer afford a “merely solid” Doughty. They need something that resembles aspects of the vintage version, a player who could dictate the pace of play, activate offensively without exposing himself defensively, and shut down opposing stars in playoff series.
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While Norris-level play is probably much out of reach, if Doughty can elevate his play back towards a top-30 or even being a top-20 defenseman, he does more than stabilize the defense. He gives Brandt Clarke breathing room to grow into a top-four role, allows Anderson to continue excelling as a safety net, and minimizes the reliance on Ceci, Dumoulin, or Edmundson to overextend their hands.
With Anze Kopitar nearing the end of his career, Doughty represents continuity in culture and competitiveness. The next wave of youth, in the form of Clarke, Alex Laferriere, and Byfield, will be looking to the most likely next team captain for stability on the ice, but for guidance in navigating the expectations of a contending franchise.
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That leadership extends to accountability. If the Kings opt to split the Doughty-Anderson pairing to balance their defense, Doughty may be tasked with keeping Ceci or Dumoulin afloat while still playing heavy minutes. If Clarke is elevated alongside Anderson, Doughty must accept a new role without seeing it as a demotion, but rather as part of a larger team strategy. This is something already evident in the 2024-25 season, as Kuzmenko bumped Doughty off the first power play unit with the change to a five-forward setup.
So, what does a Renaissance year look like, you may ask?
It doesn’t mean returning to his Norris peak; it means staying healthy enough to play 75 or more games. Can efficiently log 22–24 minutes a night without wearing down, instead of pushing into 26–28 territory as Kings’ benchbosses have pushed that button for over a decade. He can contribute 40+ points while off the top power play unit, while keeping possession metrics steady. Finally, Doughty helps Clarke transition into a legitimate top-four role.
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If these deliverables can be executed, then the Kings’ defense goes from liability to competent in a hurry. They remain entirely possible, considering the 30-game sample size from his injury-compressed season. At even strength last season, he was tied for the lowest expected goals for per 60 on the team’s backend with Jacob Moverare (0.1), the lowest shots on goal per 60 (2.93), the 2nd lowest shot attempts per 60 (8.05), the lowest Corsi (50%), tied for the lowest Fenwick (51% with Edmundson, and had the highest on ice shot attempts against per 60 (60.35).
Conclusion: The Kings’ Season Could be Defined by His Bounce Back
For all the excitement around the team’s forward depth, the Kings’ season may ultimately be defined by a Doughty renaissance or lack thereof. The departures on defense have left holes that no single offseason signing can patch. Per usual, the team is taking it with a ‘by committee’ type approach, an approach that has unfolded and collapsed four seasons in a row. Without a real ability to shake things up or make any Earth-shattering moves, the only solution is internal, and it starts with their veteran cornerstone.
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Suppose Doughty can put together a renaissance season. In that case, the Kings will have the foundation to balance their offensive firepower with defensive stability, hoping for a massive step forward from Clarke, which could make them a sneaky threat in the West. If not, they risk wasting one of their strongest forward groups in recent memory.
For Los Angeles, the difference between being a playoff lock and another early exit might rest on whether Drew Doughty can turn back the clock, even if it is for just one last ride with his Slovenian counterpart.