LA Kings GM Ken Holland delivered a much-awaited update on top defenseman Drew Doughty. Doughty had been playing well this season before going down with an injury. The 35-year-old Doughty has been one of the mainstays for the LA Kings since being drafted second overall in 2008. So, his loss this season has been tough. Doughty left the Kings’ game against the Ottawa Senators on November 15 and hasn’t returned to the ice. While Doughty has been listed as “week-to-week,” the LA Kings’ GM Ken Holland provided some encouraging news. Holland had this to say about Doughty’s situation in an interview with James Murphy of RG Media from November 21: “He’s a little dinged up, and we’re calling it ‘Week to week’, which might sound like long-term, but hopefully we’ll see where we are in a couple of weeks. I think it will be a little bit of time, but nothing significant, but it’s still tough to see because he’s been playing great hockey for us. He trained really hard this summer. Coming off that injury last year, I think he’s been playing great hockey and skating great. He looks like Doughty in his prime. So we’re going to miss him here in the short term.” The comments seem to indicate that the LA Kings could get Doughty back sooner rather than later. However, Kings’ fans shouldn’t need to overly worry. The club has a good enough blue line to where everyone can pick up the slack as needed. LA Kings Blue Line Shouldering the Load Holland manifested his confidence in his team’s blue line. He underscored the role that several LA Kings’ veterans have played in Doughty’s absence. He stated: “But Monday, Brandt Clarke played 22 minutes, and we got five other guys there that they’re all comfortable playing 20 to 23 minutes. They’ve done it in their careers. [Cody] Ceci, [Brian] Dumoulin, and [Joel] Edmundson, Mikey Anderson, they’ve all done it elsewhere, so they’ll pick up a few more minutes and find ways to win games. Everybody gets injuries, and we feel that people can eat up some of those minutes on the back end.” The current crop of LA Kings’ defensemen makes the team’s depth stronger overall. In previous seasons, coach Jim Hiller has significantly shortened his bench due to the lack of reliable options throughout the lineup. This season, Holland has strived to bolster the team’s depth. So, it seems to have worked well. Holland Bullish on Brandt Clarke Brandt Clarke has been the subject of abundant trade speculation this season. The impending RFA has yet to sign an extension. But that doesn’t mean he won’t. Holland is still very much bullish on Clarke’s future with the LA Kings. So, it might only be a matter of time before Clarke and the LA Kings work something out. Holland and the Kings got their future captain, Adrian Kempe, extended this season. With that deal out of the way, the path could be clear for Clarke’s extension. There doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency at this time. As such, Clarke and the Kings have plenty of time to figure things out.
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