Drew Doughty is back.
The Kings activated Doughty, who broke his ankle in the preseason and has not played a shift since, from injured reserve Wednesday, just in time to face the defending champion Florida Panthers.
That’s fitting, as Doughty has always strived to rise to the level of his competition, whether it was in the Stanley Cup Final or the gold-medal game of the Olympics.
Already one of the most decorated defensemen in hockey history, Doughty has been eager to add to his burgeoning trophy case through three years of non-competitive hockey and three more seasons in which the Kings qualified for the postseason, only to be eliminated in the first round.
Doughty had also been one of the most durable defenders in the NHL from his rookie year, in 2008-09, until the Kings returned to the playoffs in 2021-22. Then, two separate injuries, including a season-ending wrist surgery that cost him the chance to participate in a seven-game series against the Edmonton Oilers, sidelined Doughty. This season, he’s again missed significant time, making his initial foray of the season at Game 48.
“When you don’t play for that long, you start questioning how am I going to play when I return, and how am I going to feel when I return,” Doughty told Kings media personality Zach Dooley on Sunday. “Doubt starts creeping into your mind, which is never a good thing, but as much as I have thought about that, I feel confident that I’m going to be as good as I’ve always been and I’ve done a lot of work to get ready for this point, so I’m excited.”
Dooley tweeted from the morning skate in Florida that Doughty would be paired with Jacob Moverare initially, effectively placing him on the Kings’ third defense pairing, but that he also took reps with the top power-play unit.
The Kings have been struggling on the power play and offensively overall, having scored two or fewer goals in nine of their past 10 games. Although their defensive game has excelled all season, Doughty could enliven the Kings’ transition game as well as provide the vocal, emotional leadership that he has across his entire career.
While Doughty may be used in a tempered capacity initially, he has also said he would like to play in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off tournament if asked to fill in for an injured player and said that he were only going to play a few minutes a game, he’d sooner wait until he was ready to go full blast.
“I know when I get out there, I’m going to be looking over my shoulder being like, ‘I’m ready to go out for another shift,’” Doughty told Dooley. “So that’s part of the reason they want me 100 percent ready to be able to have the minutes, to be able to play the way I need to play.”
The Kings will also be in action Thursday, when they’ll square off with the Lightning in Tampa Bay.
