![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/doughty-e1775441668715.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The LA Kings owe it to the longtime veteran to name him team captain upon the retirement of Anze Kopitar this summer.<\/p>\n
The LA Kings<\/a> will go through a major leadership change for the first time in a long time. The retirement of Anze Kopitar at the end of this season will leave a significant gap that might seem impossible to fill.<\/p>\n But then again, the LA Kings<\/a> have a natural successor for the captaincy. This successor is one the organization owes naming him captain, even if for one season. That player is defenseman Drew Doughty.<\/p>\n The 36-year-old has played his entire career in LA<\/a>. Since being the second-overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, he\u2019s been a stalwart on the Kings\u2019 blue line. Doughty is the lone remaining piece from the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup-winning clubs.<\/p>\n And he\u2019s been waiting in the wings seemingly his entire career to get a shot at wearing the \u201cC\u201d on his chest.<\/p>\n It\u2019s just time for the LA Kings organization to acknowledge the tremendous contributions that Doughty has made across his career. He\u2019s played nearly 1,300 games in a Kings\u2019 uniform and has chipped in over 700 points in that time.<\/p>\n If there\u2019s anyone who deserves that recognition, it\u2019s Doughty. But there might be one minor catch to naming Doughty captain for the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n Doughty in Final Year of Contract with LA Kings<\/p>\n While naming Doughty captain of the LA Kings makes all the sense in the world, he\u2019s under contract for one more season. Next season, the veteran blueliner will be entering the final year of his eight-year, $88 million contract.<\/p>\n After that, it\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess if Doughty will keep playing or retire.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth underscoring that Doughty hasn\u2019t shown any signs of slowing down. Last season, the Kings\u2019 mainstay was limited to 30 games due to a broken ankle. He\u2019s come back this season to play 66 games, including his participation at the 2026 Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n If Doughty chooses to retire, well, naming him captain for his final season would be a great send-off. But if he opts to remain playing, the LA Kings will have their captain in the fold for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n Either way, it\u2019s a win-win for the player and the organization.<\/p>\n Get more Kings on Heavy:<\/p>\n LA Kings Could Find Replacement for Fiala Soon<\/a><\/p>\n Fiala Injury Update: Kings Star to Miss Rest of Season<\/a><\/p>\n NHL Rumors: LA Kings Did Not Solve Major Issue with Panarin<\/a><\/p>\n Kings Must Look to Long-Term Leadership Plans<\/p>\n With Doughty potentially playing a couple of more seasons, the LA Kings must look towards a long-term leadership succession plan. As it stands, there really isn\u2019t any single player that stands out.<\/p>\n Perhaps Adrian Kempe, who\u2019s under contract for the long haul, could be the logical choice. Similarly, defenseman Mikey Anderson, who also wears an A, could be another choice to succeed Doughty.<\/p>\n Of course, this entire discussion hinges on the supposition that the LA Kings will name Doughty. Perhaps the organization might want to get a head start on that long-term succession plan and go with Kempe or Anderson as captain.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, that move seems unlikely as the optics of such a move might make it seem like a slight to the team\u2019s longtime star blueliner.<\/p>\n All told, this offseason will mark some major changes. The club could be looking to hire a new coach, while Kopitar\u2019s retirement promises to usher in a new era of hockey in Tinseltown.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tNestor Quixtan<\/a> Seasoned NHL analyst and baseball writer focused on covering clubs across each league with news, analysis, and insights. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Nestor’s singular experiences and background have enabled him to bring a different take on the sports world as a whole. Nestor’s fondness for baseball and hockey set the tone for his love and passion for writing about sports. More about Nestor Quixtan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on LA Kings\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The LA Kings owe it to the longtime veteran to name him team captain upon the retirement…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5126],"tags":[5,186,1760,240,5303,793,145,5304,5302,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-543128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-kings","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-kings","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-la-kings","12":"tag-lakings","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-kings","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangeleskings","17":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116355536998547849","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}