Drew Doughty will miss 6-to-8 weeks due to tibial plateau contusion
The Los Angeles Kings will be without their top defenseman for an extended period of time.
General manager Rob Blake addressed the media on Wednesday afternoon and said that Drew Doughty has suffered a tibial plateau contusion. He won’t skate for six weeks and the hope is that he’ll be ready to return to the Kings in eight weeks.
Drew Doughty update: he suffered a tibial plateau contusion. Will start skating around 6 weeks from now, hopefully resume play around 8 weeks.
Sean Walker update: he suffered a torn ACL and torn MCL. Will require surgery and is out for the season.
Per LA Kings GM Rob Blake
Doughty was injured back on Oct. 22 after a knee-on-knee collision with Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa. He was helped off the ice, left the game, and didn’t return. The prognosis after his injury was that Doughty had suffered a minor knee sprain, so this is quite different than the original update.
This is a big blow for the Kings, a team who’s already off to a very disappointing start to the season. L.A. came into 2021-22 was aspirations of pushing for a playoff spot and they’re currently 1-4-1. They’ve lost both of their games since Doughty’s injury, 7-3 and 3-0 to the St. Louis Blues.
While this is bad news for the Kings, it’s good news for Hockey Canada, as Doughty should be back to 100 percent by the time the 2022 Winter Olympics begin in Beijing in February.