NHL.com’s fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty ahead of his season debut.
Veteran defenseman Drew Doughty returning for the Los Angeles Kings has plenty of implications for the Stanley Cup Playoff picture in the Western Conference, and potentially even the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, because of his perennially strong advanced metrics and championship pedigree.
Doughty is expected to make his season debut against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Wednesday at Amerant Bank Arena (7 p.m. ET; FDSNW, SCRIPPS, TVAS-D) after recovering from an ankle injury, which required surgery, sustained during a preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sept. 25.
And, with the 4 Nations Face-off (Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston) fast approaching, Doughty is a candidate for Team Canada to replace defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (Vegas Golden Knights), who will miss the best-on-best tournament because of an ailment.
Here are five impactful EDGE stats surrounding Doughty’s return for the Kings, who remained in contention without him:
Possession dominance
The calling card of the Kings during their championship years (2012, 2014), led by Doughty and center Anze Kopitar, was being a heavy, possession-savvy team, and their shot attempts percentage at 5-on-5 has once again been near the top of the NHL over the past four seasons:
Kings’ recent SAT% percentages:
-2024-25: 52.7 percent; fifth
-2023-24: 53.9 percent; fourth
-2022-23: 52.3 percent; tied for sixth
-2021-22: 54.2 percent; fifth
Doughty, who’s now 35 years old, was still very effective in this area last season; he ranked tied for 14th among NHL defensemen in shot attempts differential (plus-277) during the regular season.
Long-range goals
Despite Doughty’s absence this season, the Kings are tied with the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild and Seattle Kraken for the NHL lead in long-range goals by defensemen (13 each). Last season, Doughty was tied for second in the entire League in long-range goals (nine) behind only Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard (10) and ranked in the 93rd percentile in long-range shots on goal (87).
Potential power-play boost
The Kings, who ranked 12th in power-play percentage last season (22.6), rank 29th out of 32 teams with the man advantage (15.9) through their first 47 games without Doughty this season. Los Angeles’ offensive zone time percentage on the power play has dipped from 60.1 last season to 57.7 this season.
Even still, the Kings have been one of the best teams in the NHL since Nov. 27, ranking among the leaders in goals allowed per game (2.20; second fewest), points percentage (.660; third), shots on goal allowed per game (25.5; fourth fewest) and penalty kill percentage (85.0; sixth). Doughty’s return comes at an opportune time as the Kings have averaged the second-fewest goals per game (2.00) this month. Doughty had 20 power-play points (fourth on Kings) last season, the sixth time in his career he’s reached that mark.
High-danger shots on goal allowed
With Doughty last season, the Kings allowed the sixth-fewest high-danger shots on goal (587) in the League. Doughty’s workload, as evidenced by his total skating distance (293.43 miles; fifth in entire NHL last season), is an integral part of Los Angeles’ stingy defense. Despite Doughty’s absence this season, the Kings have remained in the thick of the postseason race in the Pacific Division largely because of shot suppression and reliable goaltending from starter Darcy Kuemper and backup David Rittich; Los Angeles is tied for ninth in team save percentage (.900), and Kuemper leads qualifying goalies in high-danger save percentage (.851).
Shot speed
Doughty, who won the Norris Trophy in 2016 and is renowned for being one of the strongest two-way defensemen in the League even into his mid-30s, has not slowed down in terms of shot speed metrics. Last season, Doughty ranked in the 93rd percentile in average shot speed (72.16 miles per hour) and 90th percentile in top shot speed (99.22 mph).
Although the Kings have lost to the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs each of the past three years, their strong underlying metrics and the return of Doughty give them the potential to win a postseason round for the first time in a decade (last series win: 2014 Stanley Cup Final).
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More: NHL EDGE stats for Doughty | LAK
