Throughout the 2024-25 NHL preseason, there has been an abnormal number of injuries to proven NHL stars. There have been so many conversations about whether or not veteran NHLers should be playing in these meaningless games, risking the success of their club for the regular season.
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Last Wednesday in a game against the Vegas Golden Knights, defenseman Drew Doughty collided with former Los Angeles King Tanner Pearson. It was an awkward collision into the boards that saw Doughty leave the ice in extreme pain, unable to put any weight on his left leg. It was later confirmed that Doughty would be out month-to-month with a fractured ankle.
Doughty Is Irreplaceable
It’s no secret the kind of importance Doughty holds for this Kings team. He’s been a staple on their blue line for more than a decade and one of the most consistent and reliable defensemen in the league. The 34-year-old played all 82 games for Los Angeles last season and led them in time on ice with 2115:04 minutes which was second in the entire league only to John Carlson of the Washington Capitals. Doughty also led the Kings in points by a defenseman with 50, finishing with 15 goals and 35 assists. From being a first-pairing guy, to quarterbacking the first power play unit, to playing on the penalty kill, to wearing a letter on his chest, the number of roles Doughty carries is endless. For a player who produces the way he does, eats up the number of minutes he does, and the kind the impact he has in the locker room, the hole Doughty leaves is massive and impossible to fill completely.
You could go down the entire Kings roster and ask each player what Doughty means to this squad and the two most common things you will hear are how vocal he is in the dressing room and how he’s a “one-out-of-one” player who can’t be replaced. It’s going to take the entire defensive group’s efforts to step up and try their hardest to fill that large gap.
Opportunities Arise for Clarke, Spence, And Other Defensemen
With Doughty unable to return to the ice for a decent amount of time, it opens up possibilities and opportunities for other defensemen. Two young blue liners who are the future of this franchise will see their roles enlarge a lot sooner than expected. Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence will be relied on heavily on the right side to pick up the slack. The transition to a bigger role and more ice time might be an easier one for Spence since he has had one full season in the NHL. Regardless of their inexperience, both Spence and Clarke aren’t going to shy away from the opportunity to make their mark and prove their worth.
“I think if there’s opportunities for myself to get more ice time, play PK and PP, I need to step up and do the best I can and try and contribute and win games,” said Spence.
“I’m up for the challenge, I’m kind of thrown in the deep end here but I don’t mind that at all, I’ve done that before in my life, and I’m kind of doing it again now and that’s going to be fun,” Clarke said, “I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in my life right so I’m ready for what’s to come for sure.”
With Clarke’s offensive talent, there is one key element to his extended role and it’s going to be quarterbacking the power play. It’s an area Clarke is hoping to thrive in and he will have more time and space to show off those offensive gifts and create plays from the blue line.
“I think it’s just quick puck movement, we have such stellar guys out there […] I want to kind of be seamless and kind of fit right in with those guys so if that’s how it plays out, I’m just going to do the best I can to be another clog in the wheel and help them out, get pucks to the net, and get pucks to our other players on that unit,” he said.
The three right-handed defensive spots would have been filled with Doughty, Spence, and Clarke and that right side would have been phenomenal, but with Doughty out, a spot on the right side opens up. A player who the Kings clearly see some value in (as they traded for him this offseason) comes to mind.
Kyle Burroughs — who was brought to Los Angeles in exchange for Carl Grundstrom — would be the leading candidate to fill in on that right side, most likely on the third pairing depending on how the Kings decide to distribute the talent they have. Burroughs isn’t going to help with offensive production and he isn’t going to play on the power play, which is fine because they have Spence and Clarke to handle that, but he will be able to help bring a level of physicality that will be missing with Doughty gone.
It’s important that the situations and matchups Burroughs faces are monitored closely in order for him to be the most successful. If one thing is certain about Burroughs it’s how good his work ethic is. He’s a seventh defenseman who’s going to bring it every night and he was brought in to be a guy who can fill in when injuries occur.
“There’s chances for people to step up, but you gotta be a deep team to be a good team and for me to get chances, maybe get more touches, and have more of an impact on the game is something that I obviously don’t want to wander away,” Burroughs said.
The Kings have a few different routes they can go if they are fine slotting in a left-handed defenseman to play on the right side. Caleb Jones, who has looked somewhat promising over the preseason, has experience playing on the right side and could be another option. Once again, Jones isn’t going to bring the Kings any sort of meaningful offensive production. He played 25 NHL games last season with the Colorado Avalanche finishing with five assists and a plus-18 rating. Just like Burroughs, Jones can be relied on in the right situations.
It’s going to take a full team effort for the Kings to minimize the effects of losing Doughty, but it’s going to be even more interesting to see how guys like Clarke and Spence embrace this opportunity and how they handle a bigger and more significant workload.
