It
’s not often you’ll hear an NHL player speak http://www.crtside.com/phil-esposito-jersey-c-1_18.html candidly about upcoming contract negotiations and his thought process behind them, but that
’s exactly what Drew Doughty is doing.“
I’ve thought about it actually lately, I don’t know why,” the Los Angeles Kings star blueliner told Craig Custance of The Athletic. “I kind of just thought about my options and stuff like that. I never know what’s going to happen.”Doughty is slated to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2018-19 season once the eight-year, $56-million deal he signed in 2011 expires.
The 27-year-old is eligible to sign an extension with L.A. on July 1, 2018 and the Kings would be the only team he could ink an eight-year deal with. If he were to hit the open market, the longest contract he could sign with a new team would be for seven years.
Before making a decision on his future the 2016 Norris Trophy winner and two-time Stanley Cup champion plans on reaching out to one of his elite contemporaries, Erik Karlsson, for counsel. The Ottawa Senators captain
’s contract expires when Doughty’s does.“
I know I’m going to talk to Karlsson back and forth, kind of see what money he’s looking for,” Doughty explained. “I’ll kind of look at what money I’m looking for. I don’t know if he’s going to re-sign with Ottawa. I don’t know if I’ll re-sign with L.A. You just never know what’s going to happen.”In addition to Doughty and Karlsson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Ryan Ellis, Tyler Myers, Ryan McDonagh and Nate Schmidt are all eligible to potentially join what could be a defence-rich free agent class in the summer of 2019.
It
’s safe to assume both Doughty and Karlsson will remain amongst the highest-paid defencemen in the league whenever and wherever they sign their next contracts and, based on credentials, they may just rank one-two when all the ink is dry.Doughty
’s current cap hit of $7 million is tied for the sixth-highest in the league among defencemen, while Karlsson’s $6.5 million is tied for 11th. P.K. Subban, a one-time Norris winner like Doughty, is the NHL’s top-paid defenceman in terms of cap hit at the moment. Subban’s average annual value of $9 million could potentially be a starting point for Doughty’s and Karlsson’s respective negotiations and Doughty admits as much.“
Right now, I guess we’d be gauging off what P.K. makes. I think both of us deserve quite a bit more than that,” Doughty said.The closer Doughty gets to UFA status, the more you
’ll hear Toronto Maple Leafs rumoured as a potential landing spot for the London, Ont., native.“
Growing up, watching them every single time, it’s hard to say you’d never want to play for the Leafs,” Doughty said.As a two-time Olympic gold medallist,
http://www.e666e.com/sergei-nemchinov-jersey-c-1_25.html Doughty has become quite familiar with Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock over the years thanks to their frequent success as members of Team Canada.
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Oh f—, yeah. Babs. I like Babs, too,” Doughty added. “He’s put full trust in me since I was 19 years old at the Olympics. I remember, I’ll never forget. I showed up at the Olympics, he said, ‘Douts, you’re going to start off as the seventh D. The better you play, the more you’re going to play.’ I ended up playing third- or fourth-most minutes. He trusted me from day one. He still has full trust in me.”
