Drew Doughty

Doughty recorded 15 goals and 50 points across 82 regular-season contests in 2023-24, making it his second straight campaign with at least 50 points, and the fifth occasion he's hit that mark over his career. Although Doughty is a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman and was a key part of the Kings' two Stanley Cup victories, he's always been great but not amazing when it comes to raw offensive production. Prior to suffering a serious ankle injury in preseason, the Canadian blueliner was a solid bet for another 40-50 points. Instead, he could be in danger of missing the 50-point mark for the first time in three seasons.

After being limited to just 39 contests in 2021-22 due to knee and wrist injuries, Doughty was healthy last season and consequently bounced back, providing nine goals, 52 points, 104 blocked shots and 115 hits in 81 outings. The 33-year-old is the backbone of the Kings, averaging 26:14 of ice time in 2022-23 and 26:15 over his career. To put his workload into perspective, Doughty ranks 10th in career ice time among all players since the stat started being tracked in 1997-98, and the Ontario native is far from done. So long as he can remain healthy, Doughty should be able to at least reach the 40-point milestone for the ninth time in his career, and it wouldn't be shocking to see him finish above the 50-point mark for the second straight campaign.

The Kings made the playoffs a season ago and pushed the Oilers to seven games in the opening round, which is remarkable considering Doughty's season ended in early March due to a wrist injury. He ended up playing in 39 games, and posting 30-plus points (31) for the ninth consecutive season. Doughty has played 14 NHL seasons, but will be just 33 years old this coming December. He is always among the league leaders in ice time per game and remains the unquestioned quarterback of the Los Angeles power play, making Doughty a worthy mid-round target in standard fantasy leagues this coming year. He gets a minor bump in leagues which value both hits and blocks.

Doughty enjoyed a solid season with 33 points (17 on the power play) in 56 games for a not-so-great Kings team last year. The 31-year-old remains a heart-and-soul player on the blue line, and he's probably second to only Anze Kopitar in terms of potential fantasy value on the Kings. In Doughty, managers can expect a true workhorse capable of playing 25-plus minutes per game while rarely holding back from hits or blocked shots. The Kings look poised to be the first of the California teams to climb out of a rebuild, and the Ontario native is locked in for five more years to lead the defense corps. With a full season on tap, Doughty should be a lock for 40 points, 100-plus hits, 90 blocked shots and 150 shots on goal, giving him broad appeal in most fantasy formats even as younger stars emerge on defense league wide.

The 31-year-old continues to anchor a Kings blue line that has seen plenty of turnover around him in recent years. Doughty's offensive production hasn't waned, as he was on pace for another 40-plus points last season prior to the shutdown, but being on the ice in all key situations for a club mired in a rebuild has taken its toll on his defensive stats, although last year's minus-16 was still a step up from the woeful minus-34 he managed in 2018-19. The club traded for Olli Maatta in the offseason, potentially giving Doughty a solid partner on the top pairing, and with a full no-trade clause for three more years on his massive contract, it seems likely that the five-time All-Star will still be around when this roster is ready to be competitive again.

The long-time blueline stalwart for Los Angeles suffered right along with the rest of the franchise in 2018-19, posting the worst plus-minus of his career by a mile -- his minus-34 was double even the minus-17 he put together as a teenage rookie still getting his feet wet in the NHL. Doughty's struggles had less to do with any decline in defensive skills on his part and more to do with how little offense the roster around him generated at even strength, as more than half his 45 points came with the man advantage. The 29-year-old is still a legit top-pairing defenseman who can spark an offense from the back end, and still has enough of his prime left in front of him that he might see the other side of the Kings' current rebuild, even if his overall numbers might suffer in the short term.

Not only did the Kings reward the 28-year-old Doughty with a long-term extension, but they also got him a new weapon to feed in Ilya Kovalchuk. If Kovalchuk is anything like the player he was when he last played in the NHL, Doughty will have two genuine stars available to feed on a regular basis. Regardless, Doughty racked up 50 assists last season without Kovalchuk, so he's going to be a valuable asset regardless of which Kings forwards are on the receiving end of his passes. He'll be one of the first five defensemen off the board.

After claiming his first Norris Trophy in 2015-16, Doughty's numbers dipped last season. He still notched 44 points and 181 shots while averaging a hefty 27:09 of ice time (3:17 with the man advantage). He also posted a team-high plus-8 rating while maintaining an excellent possession game (55.2 Corsi For percentage). Still just 27 years old, Doughty is in the heart of his prime and projects to remain the go-to defenseman in all situations for the Kings. He offers a high and reliable fantasy floor and also has potential to rebound in the points column. There are a few defensemen with more upside, but very few are as reliable as Doughty.

Up until last season, it had been quite a few years since Doughty’s stats had kept up with his billing as one of the game’s top blueliners; he hit 50 points for the first time since way back in 2009-10, with a career-best plus-24 rating serving as a tasty side dish. Still only 26 years old, Doughty ought to offer fantasy owners more of the same over the next several seasons while playing for a Kings team with strong top-line scoring that relies on him heavily in all situations. Indeed, Doughty’s been one of the most-used players in the NHL, particularly over the past two campaigns (29:00 and 28:01 of average ice time), and the durable two-way blueliner should continue enjoying heavy minutes for years to come. He may not post the sort of high-end point totals that we get from the league’s elite offensive defensemen, but Doughty offers one of the most well-rounded fantasy lines you’ll see.

Doughty backed off a bit from the double-digit goal scoring he'd churned out over the past few years, but it didn't qualify him as a fantasy disappointment last season. One of the top two-way defensemen in all of hockey, Doughty atoned for his low total of seven goals by adding 39 assists, which was tied for fifth among Western Conference blueliners. The 25-year-old's biggest strength is his durability and fitness, as he averaged 29 minutes of ice time last season, just four seconds off the league lead. After finishing second in Norris Trophy voting, Doughty is one of if not the most valuable players in all of hockey and a lock to be one of the top defensemen chosen in your league’s draft.

Doughty led the Los Angeles blue line with 10 goals and 27 assists, but it still left a bunch of his fantasy owners screaming for more. After all, that was just good enough for a tie for 29th in points among fellow rearguards. It's pretty clear that his 59-point effort (thanks to 31 points on the power play) back in 2009-10 was his high-water mark offensively, as he's failed to top 40 points in each season since then. He's still the Kings' No. 1 defenseman, but at this point his reputation likely exceeds his fantasy production. Don’t overrate.

Doughty had another fine season (six goals, 16 assists in 48 games), but still disappointed most fantasy owners who were banking on more. Right now, his breakout season in 2009-10 (16 goals, 43 assists, nine power-play goals, 22 power-play assists) seems more like an outlier than a sign of things to come. And he's really going to have to do more damage on the power play if he's to approach that kind of production again. It remains to be seen if the emergence of Slava Voynov as another power play threat will open things up a bit for Doughty or further reduce his role with the man advantage.

Doughty, perhaps more than any player on the Kings, seemed to benefit the most from the midseason coaching change as he was a totally different player under Darryl Sutter and could have taken home Conn Smythe honors if Jonathan Quick hadn't stolen the show in the postseason. Factor in a contract dispute that wiped out his training camp and it's easy to find excuses for his slow start that resulted in his lowest goals (10) and points (36) since his rookie season. A bounceback season would seem to be on the horizon.

Doughty took a bit of a step back (11 G, 29 A) from his breakout season of 2009-10 (16 G, 43 A) in large part due to a lack of production on the power play (15 points last year compared with 31 from the previous year). He'll continue to log heavy minutes on the Kings' blue line and will remain a fixture on their top power-play unit so a return to his 2009-10 season isn't out of the question if the Kings' power play clicks.

Doughty led the Kings' blueline in goals (16) and was second on the team with points (59), trailing only Anze Kopitar. He did most of his damage on the power play (9PPG, 22 PPA) but still managed a plus-20 rating, as well. He's already among the elite defensemen in the league and will turn 21 in December. He'll be among the top five in blueline scoring again this year.

Doughty enjoyed a pretty effective rookie campaign, racking up 27 points in 81 games while logging more than 20 minutes of ice time on a nightly basis. The addition of Rob Scuderi may help Doughty take the shackles off his offensive game and he should improve on last year's totals if he can avoid the sophomore slump.

Doughty enters training camp with a lot of intrique around him. He's a franchise-type of defensemen with some offensive skill and the Kings could certainly use some help on their blueline. He's worth keeping an eye on in keeper leagues but his offensive game will likely take a few years to develop.