Welcome to the Drew Doughty Renaissance

[Raccoon Jesus]

After a couple of sub-par to bad years, Drew Doughty is back to mostly looking like his old self, taking over shifts and building momentum every game.

-4 goals, 15 points--tied for 2nd in dman scoring
-2nd in TOI/GP in the nhl
-6.71% CF%rel (only Iafallo is better on LAK)

All this on a team expected to be a basement team and with the only other remotely veteran presence being Olli Maatta--once those two were separated, DD took off, and Olli settled in on the bottom pairing. Drew's partner Mikey Anderson has played 21 NHL games--making it Anderson 21 games, Roy 105 games, Bjornfot 6, Clague 15, Austin Strand 6, Maatta 438, MacDermid 100 on the button.

He seems to have really settled into the veteran leadership role and has toned down a lot of the usual antics--but that may also be because we're not in Canada at all this year

Nice to see a guy bounce back after a couple of years--I know many of us had figured the skills were still there, but the mind/emotion wasn't, and it's looking like he's refreshed and re-engaged in a different way. He's not the same near-flawless shutdown presence he was in the mid 2010s, but he's still Mr. Everything to LAK on the back end. Fortunately with the rookies' continued improvement (and Matt Roy's emergence as a stud d-man in his own right), it's looking like they're FINALLY going to tone his minutes per game down, which hopefully helps with effort and longevity.

Click to read more...

 

[volcom92886]

Kopitar and Brown looking good as well!

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Noooo the Kings defense looks different from what I remember from last year, probably a big reason for their success.
Dude where is my man MacDermid? I loved that pylon.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Noooo the Kings defense looks different from what I remember from last year, probably a big reason for their success.
Dude where is my man MacDermid? I loved that pylon.

Once the rookies could play a regular shift he found himself stapled to the bench, it's lately been
Doughty - Anderson
Clague/Bjornfot - Roy
Maatta - Strand
Macdermid

will be crowded when Walker returns this trip, Strand was a revelation, playing better in the NHL than he ever did in the A.

 

[Habstastic]

Shhhhhhhhh... Keep it low key please I’ve been picking him up in fantasy leagues..

 

[JT Kreider]

Shhhhhhhhh... Keep it low key please I’ve been picking him up in fantasy leagues..

I got him in the 15th round lol.

It is really sad I drafted Hart and Josi in round 2/3 and Petersen/Lankinen/Allen are my best goalies and Doughty has been worlds better than the reigning Norris winner.

 

[JT Kreider]

I don't know if this is a hot take but the Kings will win at least one more Cup with Doughty and Kopitar

 

[illpucks]

 

[Habstastic]

I don't have if this is a hot take but the Kings will win at least one more Cup with Doughty and Kopitar

Yeah you can count that as a hot take since the odds of LA winning in the next 4 years are very unlikely!

 

[Turin]

Guy just needed to start trying. It’s not like he got an injury or got old.

 

[SenzZen]

He was due to bounce back.

 

[Lt Dan]

Yeah you can count that as a hot take since the odds of LA winning in the next 4 years are very unlikely!

Really? With this young core. All this cap space and all these prospects on the way?

This kings team is about where it was in 2008 or 2009 and won the cup in 2012

 

[Little Psycho]

Since people love DD so much I'll just leave this here:

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Since people love DD so much I'll just leave this here:

That's why it's funny to me that so many people have such a hate for Doughty. He's a weirdo but he's talented and the guy clearly loves playing the game.

The league had to make sure Doughty played in the West because with Ovechkin in the East it would be too much personality in one conference.

 

[LAKings88]

The Kings have been a mess since the summer after the last cup. Drew looks engaged and seems to be having fun. Hope he can keep it going. When he is on he is an all around beast.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

For some reason I prefer if we talk crap about him, those topics, like Drew does it again.

I dont know, it just give me that special feeling.

 

[The Turtle]

Well if I were to instill hf logic into this thread, playing on a bad team automatically makes you a bad player.

Fortunately I possess common sense and can see otherwise.

Good to see him making all of those shitting on his contract eat crow. Sometimes guys have slow starts and granted how f***ed up this season is it's not that tough to understand how that would have contributed for Doughty.

 

[MessierII]

I never thought he was that bad. The team was bottoming out. Drew Doughty individually didn’t get that much worse.

 

[lawrence]

Does he get called by team Canada ? Stay tuned.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I’m all for metrics, but some really take it overboard with suggesting that a top 2 defensemen of his generation turns into a bad hockey player because he had bad analytics for a few seasons. It makes no sense.

 

[Amazinmets73]

I’m all for metrics, but some really take it overboard with suggesting that a top 2 defensemen of his generation turns into a bad hockey player because he had bad analytics for a few seasons. It makes no sense.

Umm... Why not? And he wasn't a top 2. Top 10, maybe.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Guy just needed to start trying. It’s not like he got an injury or got old.

I was thinking this. Team went to shit, vet player stops going 100%. Team gets more competitive, vets shockingly start playing better.

 

[StroShow]

How has Villardi looked? Hope he has a great career. I know he's battled some really tough injuries early in his career. Easy to root for a player like him.

 

[BallPointHammer]

He's back on track this year. That's all that matters.

 

[Osprey]

Really? With this young core. All this cap space and all these prospects on the way?

This kings team is about where it was in 2008 or 2009 and won the cup in 2012

Their best prospects are still a year away, so I'd say that this is more like 2006-07. Regardless, even 2008-09 to 2011-12 is 4 seasons, so you're really not disagreeing with him.