Defenseman Drew Doughty has been named the 15th captain in Kings franchise history, the team announced on Wednesday evening, the day before their first training camp practice.
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Doughty, 36, has spent his entire career in black and silver after being selected second overall in the 2008 NHL Draft, ushering in a golden era during which the Kings won the franchise’s only two Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014. He leads the organization in virtually every major statistical category for a defenseman, including games played (1,279), goals (165), assists (544), points (709) and power-play points (197).
He will succeed Anže Kopitar, who took over the captaincy in 2016 and wore the “C” until he retired last spring.
“Drew Doughty has earned this,” Kings general manager Ken Holland said in a statement. “He’s a champion who’s won Stanley Cups and competed at the highest level of this game for a long time, and he’s shown he can lead this team by the way he competes every day. That’s the standard we want to set, and there’s no one better to set it than Drew.”
Not only will the Kings have a new captain, but a new head coach as well, with Peter Laviolette assuming control as they seek to win a playoff series for the first time since their second Cup title in 2014.
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“Drew is a player I’ve admired from afar for a long time,” Laviolette said in a statement. “Since getting to know him better as a person, it’s clear he’s the right choice to be captain of this team. He sets the tone with the way he competes, and that’s contagious.”
Doughty, a two-time Olympic gold medalist with Canada and the 2016 Norris Trophy winner, has long awaited the moment he became the Kings’ top leader, and now he can relish in the designation.
“Being named captain of an NHL team is something I’m truly honored by, and it’s something I take great pride in,” Doughty said in a statement. “I try to compete as hard as I possibly can every single day for this team, and winning is what fuels me, it’s why I keep pushing to get better and chase success. The Kings mean everything to me. I’ve played my entire career here, and I want to lead this team by example, showing what it means to be a King and what it takes to win championships.”
Doughty, who is on the final year of his contract, is 17 games away from tying former teammate Dustin Brown for second place on the Kings’ games played list at 1,296.
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