Dean Lombardi: Kings have made their best offer to Drew Doughty

 

General Manager Dean Lombardi said Friday the Kings have made their “best” offer to restricted free agent defenseman Drew Doughty and will proceed through training camp without him.

“We all know he’s a lively kid. He loves to play. He brings life to your room, let alone what type of player he is,” Lombardi said Friday after the remaining players underwent physical exams and fitness testing at the team’s El Segundo practice facility.

“That said, we have to move on here and focus on what we have, and we have a good team.

“At some point he’s going to be a King. He’s going to be a King a long time. It’s a bump in the road, but for the short and long term there’s no doubt that this is the right thing in terms of what we have out there.”

Players are paid on the basis of a 275-day season, including training camp. Lombardi said he had not decided if he will reduce Doughty’s eventual salary based on how many days the defenseman misses, though that's a condition Lombardi can put on the table depending on the nature and tone of future talks.

The Kings have offered Doughty an average of $6.8 million a year and were open to durations of six to eight years and to putting the 21-year-old defenseman’s average annual salary on a par with first-line center Anze Kopitar, an older and more proven player. But Doughty’s agent, Don Meehan, is believed to be requesting an average of $7 million -- and here’s where it gets complicated.