Doughty found out on Tuesday morning that he would be next organization’s next captain, the 15th in Kings franchise history.
General Manager Ken Holland made the decision the night before, in consultation with Head Coach Peter Laviolette. The team’s new bench boss called Doughty into his office the next day, with Holland on the phone from San Jose, where he was on location watching the Kings rookies.
When Laviolette called Doughty in, at first the veteran defenseman didn’t think anything of it. The two had talked yesterday and Doughty assumed it was a simple follow-up, with communication between the two somewhat regular this close to training camp.
When Doughty walked in, though, and saw that Holland was also on the phone, it immediately kicked in what was happening, in one way or the other. He knew it would either be yes or no. Doughty admitted the captaincy was something that kept him up at night. He wanted it. Badly. When he got the news he’d hoped, it was emotional, even for a player of his experience.
“When they first told me, I had chills, I was sweating, I even think I choked up a little bit talking back to them, responding to them,” Doughty admitted. “It means the world to me as a leader. I'm going to bring it every night on the ice, like I always have, but the areas that I can improve on, I think, is knowing the right moments to speak up, not just speaking up all the time. I'm a guy that talks a lot, maybe sometimes too much and I think I need to be more aware of what moments, what to say and what not to say. I'm going to bring it every night. I have great relationships with every single player on that team, both personally and as a teammate. I know everyone. I hang out with everyone, and I love all of them and I'll do anything for any of my teammates.”
Throughout the summer, there were three clear candidates, including Doughty, as well as forward Adrian Kempe and defenseman Mikey Anderson. Kempe, who is more in the mold of Anze Kopitar's lead by example approach, signed an eight-year contract extension last year and, in Doughty’s opinion, has been the team’s best player over the last several seasons. Anderson is a budding leader in his own right and has elevated into an alternate captain role over the last two seasons, along with Kempe and Doughty. From Day 1, Anderson is someone Doughty has praised for a willingness to speak up in the room, even as a younger player.
While both players certainly would have been equally honored to captain the team, there was no ill will when they found out it was Doughty getting the captaincy. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Kempe and Anderson were both thrilled for their teammate and eager to support him as alternate captains this season.
Anderson – “He's been here for everything, so there couldn't be a guy more deserving for it with what he's given to the organization. The way he approaches every day with his compete level, he drags guys into the fight, whether or not you want to be in it. He brings you in it, but he's in it with you, which is the best part. He's vocal and he does everything you want [in a captain].”
Kempe – “I'm not disappointed at all, I think Dewey deserves it, I'm super happy for Dewey......he's been here for so long, I think he's done so many things good for this organization and obviously he's getting older, but I think it's the right move. It’s basically been him and Kopi, [they have] been the captains for the last 10, 15 years now. So, he’s well deserving of that. I'm really happy for him.”
Both Kempe and Anderson will continue as alternate captains this season, along with forward Artemi Panarin, who was added into that group in advance of the 2026-27 season.
Doughty said that Kempe was the first text he got and I’m sure Anderson wasn’t far behind. Both were told in advance of the team as they were notified they’d remain in the leadership group this season, with Panarin joining. Their voices, supporting Doughty, will be incredibly important.
The Kings need new players to rise up and begin to steer the ship, both on and off the ice. It’s time for younger players to continue to take control of the team and those are two leading voices in that area.
For Doughty, he wants that too. In fact, he encourages it.
Defenseman Brandt Clarke, one of the team's youngest and brighest players, said today that Doughty is constantly encouraging him to speak his mind. Same as he is encouraging Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere. Doughty wants those players to step up and "command" what the team does.
Doughty understands as a veteran player and the team’s captain that it often times falls on him to lead vocally, but he doesn't want it to be one-sided. He wants others to hold him to the same standard, too. If something needs to be said, he wants it said, regardless of where or who it comes from. That’s an important standard to put in place, both as a player and as a leader.
“Everyone on this team has some type of leadership role,” Doughty said. “Obviously, there's like a big older group, leadership guys, but you can never say anything wrong. Guys are not going to judge you, we're a family in that room. I want everyone to speak up and I told them, I want guys to be calling me out. I can go out there and I can call guys out or give them praise, but I want the same thing back. I don't want guys to be afraid to say things like that to me because when I was younger, I had that dynamic with the older players when I was a young player and I thought that that was very successful, we won cups that way. Everyone in that room has some type of leadership quality and role and I want us to all work together.”
That’s who Doughty is as a leader.
He isn’t perfect and acknowledged that himself in his opening remarks. He wants to continue to get better in that department and plans to do so as he takes on the captaincy.
He does it because he cares. It’s why players will gravitate towards him. It’s why even others who might’ve been equally deserving of the captaincy are happy for him, because of how much he cares. It’s why he's as respected as he is in the room.
“I think the reason my teammates respect me is because they know how much I care about them,” Doughty added. “I genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, care so much about these guys. If they have a problem [even that] I have nothing to do with, I'm going to be the first guy that's going to assist them with that. I think that's basically the bottom line. When guys respect you and you speak up in the room, the guys listen and you have to have that respect of all the players.”
Throughout his career, Doughty has had a number of players to draw from in the leadership department.
Naturally, that conversation starts with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, who both captained the organization while Doughty played here. He also pointed to players like Matt Greene, Justin Williams and Jarret Stoll as important leaders when he was a younger player, guys who helped him to develop into a leader himself.
They were among the collection of text messages Doughty received after the news became public, a stream of messages which felt endless.
Kopitar's message, from one Kings legend to anothers, started with a simple greeting.
"Congrats, Captain."
Captain, Indeed.
