The LA Kings have announced defenseman Drew Doughty as the 15th captain in team history. Additionally, forwards Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin, and defenseman Mikey Anderson will serve as alternate captains for the 2026-27 season. Doughty will be the seventh defenseman in Kings history to wear the captaincy.
"Drew Doughty has earned this,” said Kings General Manager and Vice President Ken Holland. “He's a champion who's won Stanley Cups and competed at the highest level of this game for a long time, and he's shown he can lead this team by the way he competes every day. That's the standard we want to set, and there's no one better to set it than Drew.”
"Drew is a player I've admired from afar for a long time,” Kings Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “Since getting to know him better as a person, it's clear he's the right choice to be captain of this team. He sets the tone with the way he competes, and that's contagious."
"Being named captain of an NHL team is something I'm truly honored by, and it's something I take great pride in,” said Doughty. “I try to compete as hard as I possibly can every single day for this team, and winning is what fuels me, it's why I keep pushing to get better and chase success. The Kings mean everything to me. I've played my entire career here, and I want to lead this team by example, showing what it means to be a King and what it takes to win championships.”
A two-time Stanley Cup Champion and the franchise’s all-time leader in goals by a defenseman (165), Doughty, 36, is set to enter his 19th NHL season – all with Los Angeles. Doughty (1,279) will begin the 2026-27 campaign 17 games away from tying Dustin Brown (1,296) for the second-most games played in franchise history, and 21 games from becoming the 22nd different blueliner in NHL history to reach the 1,300-career game mark.
Originally selected second overall by the Kings in the 2008 NHL Draft, Doughty leads nearly every major regular-season category among defensemen in team history, including games played (1,279), goals (165), assists (544), points (709), even-strength goals (82), even-strength points (394), power-play points (304), overtime goals (8), game-winning goals (34), shots (2,590), multi-point games (134) and multi-assist games (83), hits (2,076), blocks (1,694) and takeaways (314). Doughty’s 1,279 games played are the 26th-most in NHL history by a defenseman and the second-most among all active blueliners behind Brent Burns (1,579). Doughty is joined by Nicklas Lidstrom (1,564 w/ WSH), Ray Bourque (1,518 w/ BOS), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (1,323 w/ SJ) and Ken Daneyko (1,283) as the fifth different defensemen to skate in as many games with a single franchise in NHL history.
An integral part of the Kings’ Stanley Cup Championships in 2012 and 2014, Doughty has produced 61 points (19-42=61) in 105 Stanley Cup Playoff games and twice paced all League blueliners in playoff point-scoring in both Cup runs (16 in 2012; 18 in 2014). Among Kings postseason leaders, Doughty ranks second in games played (105), fourth in assists (42), points (61) and power-play points (28), and tied for eighth in goals (19). The recipient of the 2016 Norris Trophy, and the second Kings defensemen to win such honors behind Rob Blake (1997-98), Doughty has earned several League accolades over his career, including a Norris Trophy Finalist four times (2010, 2015, 2016, 2018) and a five-time NHL All-Star (2015-19). He has also been the recipient of multiple team awards as well, including the Bill Libby Memorial Award for Most Valuable Player (1x), Outstanding Defenseman (13x), Best Defensive Player (3x), Jim Fox Community Service Award (1x) and the Mark Bavis Memorial Award for Best Newcomer (1x).
The London, Ontario, native has represented Team Canada in several international tournaments, including three Olympic Winter Games (2010 – gold; 2014 – gold; 2026 – silver), the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off (silver), 2017 World Cup of Hockey (gold), 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Men’s World Championship (silver), 2008 IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship (gold) and 2007 IIHF Men’s Under-18 World Junior Championship).
