Veteran Kings defenceman Doughty breaks ankle in pre-season game: report

Los Angeles Kings defenceman Drew Doughty sustained a fractured left ankle during NHL pre-season action versus the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, the Daily Faceoff reported.

Doughty hurt his left leg Wednesday when he slammed into the boards while engaged with Golden Knights forward Tanner Pearson in the first period of a 3-2 win. Doughty was in a protective boot and using a knee scooter to get around the team facility on Thursday.

Per the report, he is scheduled to undergo additional imaging to determine if there is other structural damage.

"You don't want to have Drew out for an extended period of time, but that's just a sad reality now and we're gonna have to deal with it," Kings center and captain Anze Kopitar said.

Head coach Jim Hiller would not get into the exact nature of the tests for Doughty but expects the team to know more later Thursday.

Doughty, 34, has been the Kings' stalwart on the blue line going into his 17th season and is one of the remaining links to their two Stanley Cup triumphs in 2012 and 2014. He was second in the NHL in time on ice this past season, averaging 25 minutes 48 seconds, and Doughty led Kings defencemen with 15 goals and 35 assists.

The loss of Doughty leaves Los Angeles with two spots to replace in their top four on defence to start Hiller's first full season. Matt Roy, who was second on the team in ice time, assists and points, signed a six-year contract with the Washington Capitals on July 1.

The Kings have two promising young players to try and fill those roles in Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence.

Doughty, a former Norris Trophy recipient as the NHL's top defenceman, is also a four-time all-star with Los Angeles. He has collected 156 goals and 669 points in 1,177 regular-season contests since the Kings drafted him second overall in 2008.

Canadiens' Slafkovsky not big on hype

Juraj Slafkovsky was drafted to the NHL first overall like Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard. The spotlight, however, has not been quite as bright or the hype train as strong for him in Montreal.

"I like it that way," Slafkovsky said.

Regardless of the attention or lack thereof, Slafkovsky is on the vanguard of hockey's next generation of stars, along with the likes of San Jose's Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, Buffalo's JJ Peterka and New Jersey's Luke Hughes.

"It's really cool to be a part of it, and I hope I will be a part of it," Slafkovsky said two years after the Canadiens took him at No. 1 in 2022.

Newcomers like Celebrini, Smith, Philadelphia's Matvei Michkov and even teammate Lane Hutson are front-runners in the race for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

Macklin Celebrini

The most recent No. 1 pick does not have the so-called "generational talent" label like Crosby, McDavid or Bedard, but he still won the Hobey Baker Award last season at Boston University as the top college player in the country with 64 points in 38 games.

Will Smith

Rivals at Boston-area schools, Smith and Celebrini are now front and centre as the faces of San Jose's rebuild.

Smith, the fourth pick in 2023. decided to turn pro after starring last season at Boston College, where he put up 71 points. He also helped the U.S. win world junior gold and played at the world championships.

Juraj Slafkovsky

The MVP of the 2022 Beijing Olympics without NHL players struggled in his rookie year. Last season, he quintupled his production with 20 goals and 50 points and said, "I'm ready to start where I finished."

JJ Peterka

A 2020 second-round pick of the Sabres, Peterka is older at 22 but could get a look on the first line this season after establishing himself as a full-time NHL player and scoring 28 goals.

The Germany-born forward is in a contract year looking to get the kind of guaranteed deal Slafkovsky and others have.

Quinton Byfield

The six-foot-five, 220-pound power forward is expected to play centre after getting a five-year, $31.25-million US contract. He spent the summer working on his shot to be more of a threat from further away from the net and prefers center offensively and defensively.

Luke Hughes

A left shoulder injury from summer training could cause the Devils defenceman to miss the start of the season. That absence should not keep Hughes from building on a 47-point rookie year that left him third in Calder Trophy voting.

Matvei Michkov

The 19-year-old Russian winger is the new face of the Flyers with the weight of the franchise's nearly five-decade Stanley Cup drought on his shoulders. Michkov was the seventh pick in 2023, with some teams concerned he might not be able to leave the KHL or was under-scouted given the war in Ukraine.

Lane Hutson

A saucer pass from Hutson during an early training camp scrimmage that landed right on the stick blade of teammate Emil Heineman went viral in hockey circles. It's just a taste of what the 20-year-old defenceman might be able to do when he gets used to life in the NHL, but he already has big expectations in Montreal.