Kings (Finally) Sign Drew Doughty To A Massive 8 Year Deal
TSN Press Release The Los Angeles Kings have reached a verbal agreement on a multi-year contract with prized defenceman Drew Doughty. According to TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie, the deal is an eight year contract worth $56 million. "The Kings had been very public and very emphatic that they were not going to pay any more than $6.8 million a year," McKenzie said. "They obviously came off of that and went to $7 million. They got the deal done and got the extra year for their troubles - from seven to eight years - and they're content with that." The agreement brings to a close what was believed to be a difficult negotiation between Doughty and Kings that had dragged through the summer and into September with very little progress. Doughty missed all five of Los Angeles' pre-season games as negotiations dragged on. "The two sides have been at an impasse since the beginning of training camp and it was only today that general manager Dean Lombardi reached out to Don Meehan, the agent for Doughty, and got things re-established," McKenzie said. "This is a big year for the LA Kings," McKenzie continued. "They feel like they need Doughty in the lineup and if they don't, it's a huge hole." Doughty, will reportedly fly to Los Angeles on Friday and will take his physical before signing the deal. "I definitely didn't want to miss that (trip to Europe)," Doughty told LAKingsinsider.com. "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. "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." The 21-year-old has built a strong resume after three NHL seasons. The native of London, Ontario has 126 points in 239 contests while quarterbacking the Kings' power play, and was a finalist for the Norris Trophy after the 2009-10 season. He was also named the Kings Outstanding Defenceman for three straight seasons and he was voted as the clubs best newcomer following his first year with the Kings. He was also on the gold medal-winning Canadian team at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Doughty statistically ranks among the best defencemen to ever play for the Kings. His nine career game-winning goals ranks fourth all-time among Kings defencemen and his 17 career power-play goals ranks ninth all-time. He also ranks 12th on the all-time list in career goals (33), 13th on the all-time list in both career assists (93) and career points (126), and tied for 15th on the all-time list in career plus/minus rating (plus-16). The 6-foot, 211-pound defenceman was the Kings' first-round choice, second overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
PattyB Thoughts:
It was bound to happen sooner or later...I was holding out hope that somehow, someway Drew Doughty would have ended up in an Islanders sweater. I guess it was a bit unrealistic to believe there was any chance at all that he would be leaving the Kings, let alone leaving them to come to the Islanders. But anyway, DD is a world-class player and its good to see he will not sit out any regular season time. The Kings needed him if they were going to win anything this year or any future years for that matter. The contract terms are a lot more than what the Kings originally wanted, but they had to make some sacrifices. He got 8 years which the Kings are happy about, but for $7 million per year which is a bit more than what the Kings said was their maximum offer. Overall, the Kings will be happy having Doughty regardless of what contract he has, and Doughty will be happy being competitive with Los Angeles.
CONTRACT TERMS:
| LENGTH: 8 YEAR(S) VALUE: $56,000,000 TYPE: STANDARD EXPIRY STATUS: UFA | ||||||
| SEASON | AHL SALARY | NHL SALARY | P. BONUSES | S. BONUS | CAP HIT | |
| 2011-12 | $7,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $0 | — | $7,000,000 | |
| 2012-13 | $7,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $0 | — | $7,000,000 | |
| 2013-14 | $7,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $0 | — | $7,000,000 | |
| 2014-15 | $7,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $0 | — | $7,000,000 | |
| 2015-16 | $7,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $0 | — | $7,000,000 | |
| 2016-17 | $7,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $0 | — | $7,000,000 | |
| 2017-18 | $7,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $0 | — | $7,000,000 | |
| 2018-19 | $7,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $0 | — | $7,000,000 | |
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