Kings' Doughty: Last place is 'stressful and depressing'

Drew Doughty isn't accustomed to losing.

The Los Angeles Kings defenseman has won two Stanley Cups, a pair of Olympic gold medals, a World Cup, and world junior gold. He made the playoffs in seven of his first 10 NHL seasons and never missed the postseason in his three campaigns with the OHL's Guelph Storm.

Now, Doughty finds himself on a rebuilding Kings squad in jeopardy of a last-place finish in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season. They entered Tuesday two points back of the Anaheim Ducks for second-last in the West.

"It’s frustrating," he told The Athletic's Lisa Dillman. "Being one of the top guys, I never expected to be (in this position). I always expected that I would be able to help push my team to a playoff spot every single year. But now back-to-back years, being in last place, it’s been stressful and depressing a little bit.

"Sometimes you’ve got to sit back and realize you don’t have the team you once had."

The Kings won Cups in 2012 and 2014. They earned playoff berths in 2016 and 2018, but since then, the club has tried to shift toward a youth movement. Doughty, who is in his first season of an eight-year, $88-million extension signed in July 2018, is in it for the long haul.

"There are times when you see really good things and you can see we’re getting better," he said. “The bottom line is we need to play a full 60 minutes and we didn’t play well (against the Panthers). You didn’t see a full 60 minutes. Vegas, we didn’t play well for two periods. Carolina was a good 60 minutes even though we lost.

“Tampa was ups and downs too. We need to figure out how to play a full 60 minutes. When we have the lead, we need to learn how to (protect) the lead. I know we’ve got a young team, so maybe it’s a little harder now."

While several players from the two Cup-winning teams remain, general manager Rob Blake, who took over in April 2017, has begun putting his imprint on the roster. He dealt defenseman Jake Muzzin to the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, and both Tyler Toffoli and Alec Martinez are rumored to be on the trade block.