Los Angeles Kings agree to long-term deal with star defenseman Drew Doughty -NHL News Update
Los Angeles Kings finally reached an agreement with their superstar defenseman, Drew Doughty, as both stakeholders verbally expressed their mutual consent over a long-term deal, which later on was declared as an eight-year contract, worth an estimated $56
million, making him the third highest-paid defender in the league.
Not only will the 21-year-old be the one of the highest-paid defenseman, but will also be the top ranking player on the Los Angeles Kings roster in terms of salary after the franchise announced the agreement late Saturday night.
The contract has not been officially signed as of yet due to Doughty being in his hometown in London, Ontario, Canada, but with the verbal agreement into play, the former second overall draft pick of the 2008 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft is expected
to arrive in LA in the upcoming days.
"We definitely want to get him in here as soon as possible", centre Anze Kopitar, the Kings' leading scorer, said last week. "We know he's got to do what's best for him, but hopefully we can get our whole team together soon and get ready for a big season".
With having spent more money than expected before during the offseason to sign a number of players to uplift the roster like Simon Gagne, Mike Richards and now, Drew Doughty, Tim Leiweke, CEO of AEG, which is the parent company of Kings, hopes that they
will be a top contending team next season.
"Let's go win some Cups", said Tim Leiweke. "We just spent more money this off-season than it cost to buy the team. We are committed".
After becoming an unrestricted free agent earlier in July as his previous three-year, entry-level contract expired, Doughty had always expressed his interest of staying with his original draft team, Los Angeles.
According to him, had it been different, he would already have signed on with a number of teams that would love to use a talented player like him.
Having scored 40 points (11 goals, 29 assists) in 76 games, along with finishing off with a plus-minus rating of 13 and 68 penalty minutes, Doughty can now focus on improving his game, rather than the negotiation process.
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