First things first, like him or not, Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings as had a hockey career that the vast majority of those who play can only dream of. Two Stanley Cups, a Norris Trophy, five-time NHL All-Star, World Juniors gold, and two Olympic gold medals will likely get the 34-year-old into the Hockey Hall-of-Fame one day. Doughty clearly knows what he's working with, too.
Doughty doesn't show up on social media much anymore. In fact, a reply to a post on X today was his first time putting anything there since June of 2022. The reply let some wondering what, exactly, he was getting at. Personally, I think the meaning is pretty clear.
A fan post on X stated it may be time to trade Doughty's teammate Matt Roy in order to give two of the younger defencemen in the organization more ice time. The post indicated that Roy had been the Kings best blueliner over the last five years, something Doughty seemed to take exception with.
LA is not meeting expectations set for them at the beginning of 2023-24, and Doughty has looked slower than usual. He may not be the defensive powerhouse he once was, but to say he hasn't been the team's best defenceman at any point over the last five seasons is wrong. Doughty had 52 points last season, his most since 2017-18 by a decent margin. The year before that, Doughty was already at 30 points in 29 games when an injury forced him to the sidelines. All that said, it's still interesting that this statement from a random fan caught his attention, and bugged him enough that he felt he needed to respond.