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Doughty, Kings agree to 8-year deal

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Written by J.P. Hoornstra

Thursday, September 29, 2011 23:58

The restricted free agent defenseman becomes the Kings' highest-paid player at age 21, verbally agreeing to a reported 8-year, $56 million contract.

Drew Doughty, the biggest remaining name in a depleted free agent pool, verbally agreed to an 8-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings late Thursday, two weeks into training camp. Drew Doughty

TSN first reported the contract is worth $56 million, which would make the 21-year-old defenseman the Kings' highest-paid player in terms of average annual value. That was a sticking point in negotiations between Kings general manager Dean Lombardi and Doughty's agent, Don Meehan. Lombardi wanted Doughty on par with Anze Kopitar's $6.8 million per-season average, Meehan preferred a shorter-term contract, and both sides were clearly willing to wait.

In the end, both the Kings and Meehan made concessions.

"This was never in mind, even being out for this long at all, but I knew I had to be there for the start of the season," Doughty said. "I missed the boys a lot, and missed being in L.A., and this just felt like time to get it done and I’m really happy and really excited.

"I think Dean did a great job and I respect Drew and Don (Meehan)," Kings governor Tim Leiweke said. "They had the right to work through this the way they worked through it. So the important thing is that we have this kid locked in for eight years."

The Kings open the season in Europe a week from Friday. Head coach Terry Murray said that Doughty will join the team in plenty of time to make that trip.

While his teammates went through the rigors of training camp, Doughty has been skating and training with his hometown London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. Whether his fitness level is enough to meet the satisfaction of the team's coaches and administrators – a recurring issue during Doughty's first three NHL seasons – remains to be seen.

Never a high-spending team in recent years, the Kings project to pay out $62 million against the salary cap this season.

With high payroll comes high expectations. For a team that lost only veteran Ryan Smyth from its core this summer, while adding Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and now Doughty, a long playoff run seems likely – albeit from the distant vantage point of late September.

"The guy that isn’t mentioned here, Mr. (Phil) Anschutz, he has broken the bank here," Leiweke said of the Kings' owner. "We are sending a very strong message to our fans. We’re committed to winning, and we just proved it again."