Los Angeles Kings Preseason: Where’s Doughty?

The 2010/2011 NHL season is only a few days away. The preseason is over and most teams are starting to take form. In the last few days many players have been put on the waiver wire. While the excitement of the preseason doesn't compare to that of the regular season, it is still great to be talking hockey again.

The Los Angeles Kings have been surprisingly quiet during this off-season. On July 1st, most fans saw a few big holes for the Kings to fill. Dean Lombardi did his best to land free agent fish Ilya Kovalchuk, but didn't manage to make the signing happen. After losing out on Kovalchuk, Lombardi went out and signed Alexei Ponikarovsky. Perhaps the best move from any team during the free agent period was Los Angeles' signing of former Vancouver Canucks defense-man Willie Mitchell. Mitchell is the kind of player that is going to step into the young dressing room and be a leader. While the signing could be considered risky with Mitchell coming off a major concussion, the potential rewards outweigh the risks.

Fast forward a month and the NHL preseason was upon us. Everyone was looking forward to big performances from Kopitar, Johnson and Doughty. These three players really make the core of the Kings. They are three of the most elite young players in the league. The Kings' preseason was an interesting one. The ups and downs that were shown really didn't give anyone a clear indication of how this team is going to perform come opening night. I don't think that we can complain about the majority of the roster. However, Drew Doughty hasn't lived up to expectations. After the Kings' first round playoff exit at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks, everyone following hockey was looking forward to that Drew Doughty come this year. The Kings won 3 out of their 6 games, but Doughty really didn't look great in any of the games that he played. I'm not saying that he was terrible, but he surely didn't live up to the expectations that we built for him l...