Doughty missed 16 games after sustaining the injury in a 3-2 overtime win against the Boston Bruins on March 7. He also missed 16 games earlier in the season because of a knee contusion and three games because of NHL COVID-19 protocol.
"For us, our group, we've seen this coming," Kings coach Todd McClellan said. "So it's not a shock to the 26 players that we have on our roster right now, the staff, probably even to some of the media people that are following us. So, it's not a, 'whoa, what just happened?' moment, but it is a moment [that] now, there's some closure to it."
Doughty leads the Kings with an average ice time of 25:44, almost five minutes more per game than defenseman Matt Roy, who is second at 20:56. Doughty is also first among Los Angeles defensemen with 31 points (seven goals, 24 assists) despite being limited to 39 games.
"We know we're not going to see him until training camp next year and there's no hope of him coming back," McClellan said. "So, the cavalry's not coming there. It would've been nice to have him, we could really use his skills all over the ice but also his veteran presence, plays 27, 28 minutes a night and right now, our defensive game isn't where it needs to be and that's his specialty. We have missed him and we will miss him, but we knew it was coming."
Doughty has missed 36 games this season; he missed a total of 34 games in his first 13 NHL seasons, including 14 last season.
"It's tough," Roy said. "He's obviously a huge part of our team and I've said it earlier in the year, it's just an opportunity for other guys to step up and produce and that's kind of been the story of our year. But now more than ever, we're in a playoff hunt here, so guys just need to buckle down and find a way to get things done."
The Kings (39-26-10) are third in the Pacific Division, three points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights and two points behind the Edmonton Oilers for second. Los Angeles plays at the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; TNT, TVAS, NHL LIVE).
NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report
