The Los Angeles Kings finally bowed to the inevitable on Thursday signing 21-year-old defenseman Drew Doughty to an eight year $56 million contract.
General Manager Dean Lombardi was said to have taken the position that he wouldn't sign the young defenseman for more than last year's leading scorer: 24 year old Anze Kopitar. That dream is dead and Drew Doughty now officially leads the LA King cap parade with a $7 million a year hit for the next eight years.
The Los Angeles Kings have now got nearly $62 million spent against the cap this season with a league mandated cap ceiling of $64.3 million. The Kings have pretty well run out of maneuvering room.
Doughty is a great young defenseman, one of the best in the NHL today. A comparable young talent, 26-year-old Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators was just awarded a one year contract in arbitration worth $7.5 million. Doughty currently sits as the third highest paid defenseman in the NHL behind Weber and Brian Campbell.
It is hard to justify that much money for that long for a player who has only been in the league for three years. He has had offensive seasons of 27, 59 and 40 points. His Ki ...
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Article written by Scott Weldon
NHL: GM Dean Lombardi Solves Drew Doughty Dilemma in Los Angeles?
October 1st, 2011 by Scott Weldon Leave a reply »
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