Quoting: JaredOfLondon
woooooow there's been wrong on here before and there is this.
He 'feasts" on the power play because he had 5 of this 7 goals and 14 of his 35 points this year on the power play. And last year? 7 of his 9 goals 24 of his 45 points on the power play.
So yes, his offensive output IS down (another reason his contract is so horrific) and he now relies on the power play for the bulk of his scoring.
and no, he isnt good defensivly. he really isnt. like you simply have to look at the stats and it shows how bad he is. he's awful and the fact that you included Muzzin in that just shows how comically bad you have misread this situation.
I watched probably 30 or so Kings games this year, and about 40 last year and i dont really remember before that, so yes i have seen him play, and no you seeing him more does not mean you have any idea what you are talking about more than anyone. I suggest you read a few spreadsheets but dont forget to take off those rose coloured glasses because you got one hell of a tint on.
Doughty sucks and aint no one saving you from that contract.
Doughty has never been a particularly offensive defenseman. He's always been better at defense than offense. He's "good" offensively, but has never been especially elite in that area. He's certainly no Erik Karlsson or Brent Burns on the power play.
Defensively, he's one of the best in the game, and that's still true today. He is an elite defenseman playing for a horrible team that is learning a new system. He thrived under Terry Murray/Darryl Sutter hockey. He thrived under John Stevens hockey. Desjardins was a cluster****, and MacLellan's new system will take some getting used to. It certainly didn't help that he had to play most of the season with replacement level defensemen like Derek Forbort, Ben Hutton, and Joakim Ryan. After Martinez was traded, the Kings essentially had Doughty and five #6/7 defensemen.
I'm sure you're in the camp that thinks that Matt Roy was the best Kings defenseman this season because of what his fancy stats say. Roy played protected minutes in a limited role with better partners. He's still a 3rd pairing defenseman at best, despite his fancy stats showing that he had team-best defensive numbers. Doughty, on the other hand, is playing 25-30 minutes every night against the opposition's best players in mostly defensive-zone starts, with significant minutes on the PK. Of course his numbers aren't going to look good.
If it were 2018 again, I'd sign the Doughty contract again without hesitation. The Kings don't need saving. As I said, their cap situation is ideal.