LA Kings' Plans For Pending UFA Drew Doughty Coming Into Focus

Last last month, 19-year LA Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, a pending UFA, revealed that the team told him they would not be offering him a new contract during the season. He would be looking at finishing his current deal unsigned.

The soon to be 37-year-old D-man, who is in his first year as the Kings captain, said he wanted to keep playing, and wanted to stay with the only team he's ever played for in the NHL. 

King GM Ken Holland clarified the situation and the team's plans with Doughty, in an appearance on Saturday on NHL Network Radio. 

He confirmed that the team has absolutely no intention of trading their captain, and they WILL be re-signing him to a new contract. Holland told Doughty that directly:

'I’m not trading ya. Forget about whatever clauses you got.'...  We’re going to find an extension at the appropriate time. In my mind, there’s no doubt he’ll be back with (the Kings) next year... I don't have any timeframe on it. But in my mind, he'll be back next year, it's just a matter of making it official at some point in time... He's obviously come out in public the last couple of weeks that he wants to play his entire career in LA."

Holland said that he met with the longtime Kings blueliner after last season, and Doughty made it clear that he doesn't want to leave LA. 

The player has a modified no-trade clause in his contract, with a seven-team trade list. But as the GM said, that's not relevant. 

Kings analyst projects Doughty's next contract

Jon Hoven of Mayor's Manor, where they're plugged-in to all things Kings, went one step further with an opinion on just exactly how this will go down:

"We expect the Kings will likely announce a two-year extension for Doughty — probably with an average value of around $7-million per season — sometime before February 1."

Doughty is in the 8th and final season of his 8-year, $88M deal ($11M AAV). 

He's having another solid season, with eight points in the first 13 games, with a plus/minus rating of +8, along with 15 blocked shots and 13 hits. He's logging an average of 21:25 minutes of ice time per night. 

In his 19-year career iwth the Kings, Doughty has recorded 717 points in 1,292 games with 1,708 blocked shots and 2,085 hits in an average of over 25 minutes a game.