- Ken Holland confirmed the Kings won’t sign Drew Doughty to an extension this summer
- Doughty will play out the final year of his contract in 2026-27, with the two sides revisiting a deal next year
- Read below for Holland’s full comments on the longest-tenured King
Drew Doughty isn’t getting a new contract from the Kings this summer.
Ken Holland made that clear Friday during his Day 1 media availability at the 2026 NHL Draft. The Kings general manager said he and Doughty have sat down multiple times over the last month, and both sides decided an extension can wait. John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor was first with it:
Holland talked about where the two sides landed after those meetings.
“He loves it here, he wants to be here and we both agreed that let’s see where he’s at, let’s see where the team’s at a year from now. His desire is to finish as an LA King and only put on one team’s jersey.”
The logic is simple. Holland doesn’t want to overpay or underpay a 36-year-old defenseman, and the only way to get the number right is to wait one more season before putting pen to paper.
“I’m not worried that he’s going to hit the open market, that he’s going to leave, so it’s an opportunity to play the season and at the appropriate time, whether it’s during the season or the end of the season, he and I will sit down and talk about where we’re going.”
Watch Holland’s full availability:
Doughty is heading into the final year of the eight-year, $88 million deal he signed back in 2018, a contract that carries an $11 million cap hit. He becomes an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career next summer.
A trade isn’t part of the plan either. Doughty carries a seven-team no-trade list, and Holland said there’s nothing brewing on that front. The two simply agreed there’s no rush to lock anything in right now.
That tracks with what Holland told reporters earlier this month, when he said he was in no rush on a Doughty extension. Now there’s an actual timeline attached to it.
Few players have meant more to one franchise. Los Angeles took Doughty second overall in 2008, and he’s been the backbone of the blue line ever since, winning two Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014 and the Norris Trophy in 2016. The Kings already locked up the right side this week with Brandt Clarke’s five-year extension.
Doughty gets his season. The contract talk waits until 2027.
