Does Doughty have the worst contract in the NHL?

[No Name The Nameless]

Doughty was in the NHL All star team of the decade. Top 2 defencemen over a 10 year period. You could wait another 100 years and the Kings may not have another defenceman to do that.

Once you get one of those you NEVER EVER:
A) Trade them
B) Not pay them

Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool. Regardless of how his career pans out from here you sign him to that contract 10/10 times

Because someone was goo for ten years you should shoot yourself in the foot for 7 more?
I don't care about thank you contacts. Obviously Drew doesn't either.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Because someone was goo for ten years you should shoot yourself in the foot for 7 more?
I don't care about thank you contacts. Obviously Drew doesn't either.

An investment in Drew Doughty is an investment in the other defensemen on the roster as well.

Unless you thinks Matt Roy and Sean Walker would have developed the way they did eating Drew's minutes.

 

[KINGS17]

An investment in Drew Doughty is an investment in the other defensemen on the roster as well.

Unless you thinks Matt Roy and Sean Walker would have developed the way they did eating Drew's minutes.

Doughty's contract is likely a sunk cost now, so in addition to eating minutes let's hope he does something more to help the young guys develop.

 

[cyclones22]

Plus a good way to alienate your fanbase, the ones that actually buy season tickets, is to do what the Florida Marlins did after they won titles and completely gut your team because you don't want to pay your players. It's a fine line you're toeing when you start trading away franchise history pillars who brought you your first Cups in franchise history. You pay Kopitar and Doughty at the time no matter what unless they want to leave and hope for the best. The Kings don't suck because Kopitar and Doughty are getting paid 10+ mil AAV, it's because they traded away every good prospect and draft pick to get Cup #3 and failed at it. The franchise didn't have equivalent (not even close) replacements in the pipeline for the players who aged out of the lineup. Guess what the result is when that happens? You get worse. A lot worse. That's the price you pay for trying to extend that window, unless you get incredibly lucky with draft choices and trades. I'll bitch about Drew's and Kopi's contracts when their presence actually impacts the ability to realistically sign quality UFAs or re-sign valuable internal FAs.

 

[lumbergh]

I guess we can’t please some. Without Kopitar who are you lining up at center. A majority of teams can’t even find a second line centers let alone top line guys right now. I guess we could have went out and replaced him with Spezza or Thornton this year. How about we promote from within. Vilardi and his 10 NHL games is our number 1, So is it Lizotte or Amadio for 2. Thank goodness JAD is here to take over at 4.

We saw the answer to this question in 2011. Kopi goes down like a ton of bricks in March and the Kings fold like a house of cards in the playoffs. The next season the team rides him and Quick to the Cup. I'm still of the opinion that Kopitar should have won a Conn Smythe in 2012 or 2014. The Kings were, and are, lucky to have him.

 

[johnjm22]

He'll probably end up being overpaid by 2m-3m per year relative to his performance.

It's really not that big of a deal.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

He'll probably end up being overpaid by 2m-3m per year relative to his performance.

It's really not that big of a deal.

Right, and even more so now that other dmen salaries are starting to catch up.

 

[No Name The Nameless]

An investment in Drew Doughty is an investment in the other defensemen on the roster as well.

Unless you thinks Matt Roy and Sean Walker would have developed the way they did eating Drew's minutes.

Make no mistake. I agree. I am advocating adding a star to a 2 year contract to help the kids progress with skill and confidence. I just disagree with the premise that you give someone a historic contract based on a 10 year run.
I'm of the mindset that the King's did the right thing in signing DD under their circumstances. They were clearly bottom light in contracts and have to spend money somehow. Why not Drew. However, Drew himself needs to earn that contract. It's not the King's fault that the contract looks bad. It's Drew's. Drew needs to be the vet superstar that he is still capable of. We expect 4 great years out of that contract. Not ZERO.

 

[kilowatt]

Make no mistake. I agree. I am advocating adding a star to a 2 year contract to help the kids progress with skill and confidence. I just disagree with the premise that you give someone a historic contract based on a 10 year run.
I'm of the mindset that the King's did the right thing in signing DD under their circumstances. They were clearly bottom light in contracts and have to spend money somehow. Why not Drew. However, Drew himself needs to earn that contract. It's not the King's fault that the contract looks bad. It's Drew's. Drew needs to be the vet superstar that he is still capable of. We expect 4 great years out of that contract. Not ZERO.

I agree with the second paragraph, but unless I’m misinterpreting your first paragraph, what star is going to sign with LA for two years?

 

[No Name The Nameless]

I agree with the second paragraph, but unless I’m misinterpreting your first paragraph, what star is going to sign with LA for two years?

Nobody, but I wanted them to. I think it's better to let the kids force their way into the line up and to have skill and leadership beside them when they arrive. Confidence is as big a hurdle as anything for a young player.

 

[Lt Dan]

Nobody, but I wanted them to. I think it's better to let the kids force their way into the line up and to have skill and leadership beside them when they arrive. Confidence is as big a hurdle as anything for a young player.

I think a more realistic scenario than a UFA signing is acquiring someone via trade from a team who needs cap relief.

 

[Anguyen92]

I think a more realistic scenario than a UFA signing is acquiring someone via trade from a team who needs cap relief.

Yep, and the ball was already rolling on that one with getting Maatta.

A bit of a bump, but since this thread popped out in the General Forum, this post really stood out to me.

Is cap hit the new metric for player evaluation?

Overpaying a #1C or #1D isn't nearly as poor of a decision because they're considerably harder to acquire and positively impact the game to some degree. If you're paying them 11, but they're only worth 8 and you have no available replacement, then their value is still net positive because that salary can't be reallocated to replace them.

At this point, would the Kings like to get Doughty signed for less in his contract? Of course, but he wanted more and Blake decided to give him more. Oh well. If Doughty wasn't backing down from that, and we couldn't sign him, he could have walked and who else could have filled in that 1D slot feasibly if people didn't see Muzzin or Martinez in that spot back then? Anyone has the answer to that? If there are no good answers, then in my opinion, I can't say Doughty's contract is the worst in the NHL if the Kings can't fill that spot well. It's a tough bind, but that's where it stands. Do we have anyone (prospects or not) that can feasibly take that spot?

Thankfully, we got plenty of prospects centers that I want to see challenge Kopitar to take the spot of 1C down the line so the concern is not as high regarding 1C as it is with 1D.