Thanks to an ankle injury he suffered during exhibition play, the Los Angeles Kings were forced to play the first several months of the 2024-25 NHL season without veteran defenseman and assistant captain Drew Doughty.
And while he recently returned to the Kings lineup and also played for Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, Doughty’s experienced a setback. Prior to Wednesday night’s game against the Vancouver Canucks, the Kings announced that Doughty wouldn’t be able to play due to a lower-body injury, with the star defenseman considered day-to-day.
Doughty has played in eight games so far this season, scoring a goal and three assists.
Drew Doughty represented Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off
Before the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, Doughty explained that his competitive fire continues to burn as intensely as ever and that the desire to win still fuels him.
“I mean, I haven’t accomplished a lot in the last, I don’t know how many years. I haven’t won a playoff round since we won the Cup. Which is not something I’m about. I’m a competitor. I want to be playing in big games. I want to be playing in Stanley Cup finals,” Doughty said via NHLPA.com.
“So, I was nervous when I came back from my injury, that’s for sure. And that’s the first time I’ve been nervous since probably 2010, to be honest. Now that we’re rolling here, the nerves have left, and I’ll be fine.”
Doughty has been a member of the Kings since they took him with the second overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft. He made his debut later that fall and appeared in 81 games in the 2008-09 season. Doughty was the Kings’ top defenseman in both their 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup-winning seasons and has also won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman in 2016.
The post Kings’ concerning Drew Doughty injury announcement appeared first on ClutchPoints.
