Drew Doughty to miss 6-8 weeks with tibial plateau contusion

The Los Angeles Kings will be without their top defenseman for a long time.

General manager Rob Blake spoke to the media on Wednesday afternoon and said Drew Doughty suffered a tibial plateau contusion. He won’t be skating for six weeks and the hope is that he will be ready to return to the Kings in eight weeks.

Doughty was injured on October 22 after a knee-to-knee collision with Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa. He was helped off the ice, left the game, and did not return. The prognosis after his injury was that Doughty had suffered a minor knee sprain, so it’s quite different from the original update.

It’s a blow for the Kings, a team that is already having a very disappointing start to the season. LA entered 2021-22 was the aspiration to push for a playoff berth and they are currently 1-4-1. They have lost both of their games since Doughty’s injury, 7-3, 3-0 to the St. Louis Blues.

While this is bad news for the Kings, it is good news for Hockey Canada as Doughty is expected to be 100% back by the start of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing in February.