Are The Kings Looking In Or Out To Replace Drew Doughty?
Fourth Season's Dave Pagnotta joined Scott Laughlin and Gord Stellick on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Morning Skate and was asked what the Los Angeles Kings will do in place of injured defenseman Drew Doughty. He said there are several options on the table.
Writing for NHLRumors.com
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Scott Laughlin: “Dave Pagnotta is with us here on NHL Morning Skate. And Dave You and DB Dennis Bernstein have always been very close to that Los Angeles scene. Can you give a good idea here of how the Kings move forward without Drew Doughty, maybe for a few months?
So it feels like, and I think this is the right way to go about it, at least for now, that they're going to try to fill in on the inside to try to replace every minute and responsibility that he takes on, even in the middle. the last stages of his career. So whether it's Jordan Spence or Brandt Clarke. What do you think of Kings, at least, who can tread water until they find their first defender.”
Dave Pagnotta: “Yes. And the big thing for them is, I think, Drew won't be out for a full season. Hope to be back in two or three months. And that gives other guys a chance to step up.
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And you know when the mind, the planning stages are in place, they bring in Joel Edmondson. They wanted him to be the anchor in the pairing with Brandt Clarke, and let Clarke do his thing offensively. And at the very least, you have a big guy, physical and able to hold his own, he can hold his own in the area, there will be an opportunity to give Clarke, and as you said, Jordan Spence and they start. Kyle Burroughs next to Mikey Anderson up there to see if they can, at least, hold the fort.
You will never replace Drew Doughty. There is no group that cannot do that. But he can do enough in the two-three months he's out to support enough playoff speed, but he can still be part of the playoff picture. And then, once Drew is back and you let yourself go from there.
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It's a different kind of situation compared to losing one of their top guys. You know, it's a very difficult situation. This team has a decent amount of depth up front, but ultimately, how will they replicate any kind of playmaking speed that Drew Doughty can bring?
Well, you can't. So, you can change your game a little bit, and some of their guys can step up to not only provide a two-way style, but also kind of focus on the corner, and, you know, looking at some offense that they've thrown and considering what Drew can do if he can replicate some of that case in the first third of the season, they should be in good shape for playoff contention, but a lot depends on some of their young guys.
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As Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence say. At the same time, how will Darcy Kuemper do? Will you be able to climb? You're going to need a few guys on the Kings team to step up without Doughty in the lineup. They feel like they have enough depth to do it, and they have a little room to fill the gap.
What they're seeing is, you know, in the first month that they can't do something, they can test and try to bring somebody into that, $1.5 million to $2 million range. That's the kind of cap space they have at the same time, guys, we've had kind of exploring the fourth line center.
They wanted to see if they could fill that void inside. It looks like they will end up looking outside the club to try and address that need later in the season.”
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