Here’s what Drew Doughty said after today’s morning skate about his nomination for the Norris Trophy…
DOUGHTY: “It obviously means a lot. Coming in, this was only my second year, and being able to be in that category is a pretty amazing feeling. The two guys who are there obviously had great seasons, and to be in the top three with them, it’s a pretty big honor.”
Question: Bobby Orr is the youngest defenseman to win [he was one year younger than Doughty is now]. That must be an honor…
DOUGHTY: “That’s pretty cool. Bobby Orr is obviously one of the best defensemen to ever play the game. To be close to being able to do the same thing he did, it’s kind of surprising, I guess, to me, but it’s also very humbling and it’s a pretty big honor as well.”
Question: Who did you call first?
DOUGHTY: “Actually, this morning I got a text from Luke Schenn, and he just kind of said, `Congrats.’ I was like, `For what?’ I didn’t know that they were announcing the finalists today. So he told me, and right away I called my dad to look on the NHL site to see if it was true, and it was.”
Question: Did you set this as a goal for yourself this season, or were you even thinking about it?
DOUGHTY: “Before the season, I didn’t really think about it at all. My first goal was just to play hard for the Kings and make them a playoff team. Then obviously get a shot at making the Olympic team. But as the season kind of wore on, I knew that I was getting mentioned in that category, and from then on I kind of made it my goal to hopefully be a finalist.”
It’s almost scary to think about how far this kid can go.
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I can’t imagine how proud Doughty’s family must be. I know I’m proud of him. I hope he knows all Kings fans are behind him and many of us have kind of “adopted” him as our own already.
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i was talking to WAVES today and we were discussing how long of a contract extension you would offer drew at this point…
i thought 6 years would be fair for both sides and that if you start going into dipietro, franzen territory, it might not be the best situation for either side…
i think WAVES thought otherwise…
what would you guys do if you were dl…?
a. 3-5 years
b. 5-7 years
c. 7-9 years
d. 10 years +
interested to hear all arguments…
thanks for listening…!
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Way to go Drew! As I told Simmers last year, you guys are the future so get used to the accolades and more importantly – have fun!
Meantime, someone mentioned awhile ago a sports bar in Encino with a good Kings following. Can that someone (or anyone) please re-post the name once more? I’ll e there tonight. Thanks in advance.
GoKingsGo!
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Well deserved Drew. Hopefully his Luke’s brother makes the team next year!!
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DEAN!!! Sign him FOR-EV-ER.
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so he’s buddy with Luke. How about we get luke over to LA to pair with Doughty and when Brayden comes up, its almost like we have our own twins
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We need a lifetime contract in blood from ol dewey.. It would break my heart to see him go..
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@variable
I don’t wanna get caught up in the euphoria too much but i’m leaning towards 8-10yrs…… i don’t want to ever see him wear any other colors.
Even at 10yrs he’d still only be…. 30yrs old.
Man oh man…
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15 years!!!
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As a Kings/Caps fan, I am conflicted, especially since I though Greenie really deserved it last year. This year, it isn’t as clear. Great to see Drew develop so quickly, (he’s now officially replaced the dead-to-me Rob Blake as my favorite player). Great stuff.
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@variable,
for better or worse, I think in today’s salary cap NHL, you have to go with a lengthy deal in order to minimize the annual cap hit. While it may be on the extreme side, I posted in the alternate universe blog this morning that I thought DL should sign him for 15 years for $90M (for an annual cap hit of $6M). Even at 15 years, he’s still only 36/37 at the end of the deal. I mean, barring injury, is there anyone that thinks Doughty wouldn’t be able to play as long as Niedermayer?
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Nice!!! Doesn’t DD have like 3 or 4 sisters? They must be going crazy!
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variable….. 3 to 5 years. var, do you know how fast time goes? wow, it would be a shame to even risk losing him that early on in his career. he’s 23 or 24 and eligible to be a free agent?? hmmmm. not certain i like that. i think at the minimum, b or c on your list are more like it.
hey var… i’ve been telling anyone who’ll listen, i just don’t ever remember seeing a defenseman with this sort of prodigious talent.
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BIG UPS to Dougnuts, the kid is the real deal. I have actually been debating with fans of other teams today and one person, I kid you not, had the audacity to say this to me:
“Two words, Jim Carey. Doughty might win a Norris or two but he could also just fizzle out afer this year.”
I almost laughed in this dude’s face. Seriously.
As far as the long term deal, I’d say go about a 9 year deal for between 67.5 – 81 mil, whatever Deano thinks we can afford long term.
Obviously with the Cap seemingly always evolving, who knows where we’ll sit year to year.
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i don’t want to see him play for another team either…and i think the world of drew…what a talent…and a prodigal son, in many ways…
i think when you get deals longer than 5 years, you are taking risks for many reasons…and i think everyone here knows exactly what i’m talking about…(injuries, team status/needs, cap space, etc…)
it’s so easy to rationalize and say that if rick dipietro is worth a lifetime deal, how in the world can drew not be…?…
i think i come from the perspective of giving someone like drew a 6 year/$$$ deal, with the mindset of resigning him by year 3 or 4 to another extension…
i compare him to magic and the lakers…magic had so many deals reworked over the course of a five year period that you knew that he would never go anywhere else and that the lakers and buss/west were constantly aware of making their superstar happy w/new commitments…
i think that even though times have changed in so many ways since then, there’s no reason to have the same strategy with someone like drew…
keep in mind, if all goes according to plan…you have to consider the obligations to players like quick and/or bernier, kopitar and, perhaps, jj…and how much of a salary commitment you want to give to a core when you still have so much coming up in the pipeline…
if you take it in increments of 5 to 7 years, it seems like a safer proposal for everyone, while you still stress individual commitment…in my mind, it’s hard for either side to lose and the risk/reward is shared equally by the player and the organization…
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Way to go Drew!!! Show your skills off tonight.
DL lock him up for as many years as he will go.
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“i think that even though times have changed in so many ways since then, there’s no reason to have the same strategy with someone like drew…”
it should read…”there’s no reason NOT to have the same strategy with someone like drew…”
sorry..!
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I like the 5-7 year deal with all the added bonuses for performance insentives. And, like variable said, you can extend his contract at about year 3 or 4 and just keep it rolling! with the 5-7 year, you’re not risking as much in the way of season/career ending injury (God forbid) and we’ll have more latittude in the negotiations of the other contracts of our core players. Aw Hell with it, Ditto what variable said!
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I would offer him one year less than he has to be a UFA. That way you still have the bargaining rights and can go long term again and still know you’re getting a reasonable deal on both ends.
That’s just me playing it safe on the management side.
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Way to go Drew!!!!!!
Just curious, does anyone know how much of a bonus that is for Drew? I believe he hit a big bonus with a certain amount of goals this year. I imagine there is a good bonus in his contract with DL thinking a 19,20,21 year old would never win the Norris with the quality dmen in the league.
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someone explain this logic to me… second year pro nominated for norris, but was not a calder candidate in his first year… is doughty that much better this year from last? that’s quite a jump to no ROY consideration, to a norris nomination within one year.
tyler myers is nominated for ROY, is he that much better than doughty was as a rookie? i don’t want to say “east-coat bias”, but this doesn’t add up for me.
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Is there any bonus stipulations in Doughty’s contract for winning the freaking Norris?
God that felt good to type!
Anybody?
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Ten year minimum contract extension to help keep the salary cap hit low. Doughty is a franchise player, the type you build around. Anything lower than 10 years and you can potentially lose him while he’s in the prime of his career. Norris candidate, top defenseman on a gold medal and playoff team, and only 20 years old? Even if he is at his peak now, I’d still him for the next 10 years at least.
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Congrats to the kid! His mother must be proud!
In December, Duncan Keith signed for 13 years, 72 million dollars. That would be the going rate for a Norris contender.
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@ robocop Two things that brought Doughty to Norris level this year:
1. Olympics – Not only did he play for the gold medal winning team, the tournament itself was amazing. The exposure level was off the charts.
2. Playoffs – Being a good player on a good team is often times better than being a great player on a bad team.
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For he is the Kwisatz Haderach!
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I think it’d be best to sign this guy for at least 8 years.
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Just give him the Bob Miller lifetime contract.
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Big Poi Pounder to DD, the kid is just amazing! Nuff said. GO KINGZ!
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Compliment understood,
….but NOBODY should be pounding DD’s poi Oahu…
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Sign him for 10! DL can extend him for 5 more in five years from now.
ps. Blake never gace a rats ass about the fans here… only to leave after we (season tix holders) paid him for his injury prone seasons… Never wanted him back!
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*gave
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Wow, Congrats to Drew! What an amazing accomplishment for a second year player who at the start of the season was only 19 years old. If he wins it this year, it’s a bonus IMO. Good Luck Drew, we’re pulling for you and I can’t wait until June 23. Awesome!
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Key is long, long term like Keith’s deal. At least 12 years. Only way to keep the salary cap reasonable for the other stars we have and are going to have.
Remember, with the talent level we have in our minor league system we’ll need the cap space.
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I heard it mentioned before that the state of California limits long term contracts of high dollar amounts to a 7 year maximum. I have no idea if it is true but from what I can recall I dont think there has ever been a 7+ year contract signed by a player playing any sport in California. Shaq, Kopitar, Kobe, Vlad Guerrero, Torii Hunter, Shawn Green, Jeff Kent etc etc all signed deals that were not too long.
Anyone have anymore details about this? I would want the Kings to lock up Doughty to a 15 year deal but who knows if its even possible?
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@Jim
Maybe they changed it since then, but didn’t Magic get a 25 year/$1Million deal?
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@Variable
8-10 years with a step increase each year. I like Anze money but start lower and increase every year until you get to 7, 7.5, 8 to keep the cap down. So, 4, 5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8,…(8 years = a 6.5 cap hit). Only in my dreams too.
Also, you can’t do extensions in the current NHL until the player is on the last year of his contract. That’s why the Kings can’t sign DD until July 1 because that’s when the last year starts. We had this talk about Frolov last summer if you remember that DL/KS couldn’t even talk with Frolov or his agent until then. So there isn’t any extension talks at year 5 unless it’s a 5/6 year deal. Sorry to burst your bubble.
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54…
you are right…and thanks for making that very important point…!
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I said first on this bolg 4 days ago. DD is the next Orr, You need to sign him for 10 years. But DD is smart and knows the Kings History!!!! He wants a Cup and for him to sign a long term deal he wants see thats the Kings goal. In his contract he might say in 5 years i do see new history from the Kings, I want to be out of here. Just like Blake, Luc and so on… Sign him for 10 and make it his team!!!!!!
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HBfan, the Dune reference was brilliant
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