State Your Case: Doughty or Heiskanen?

The game between the Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles (10 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN NOW) will showcase two of the top defensemen in the NHL: Drew Doughty of the Kings, and Miro Heiskanen of the Stars.

Doughty, 33, has played 1,053 regular-season games and 84 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, all with Los Angeles. He has 588 points (134 goals, 454 assists) in the regular season and has won the Stanley Cup twice and Olympic gold while representing Canada.
Heiskanen, 23, has been in the League for five seasons and has 160 points (38 goals, 122 assists) in 310 regular-season games, and 33 points (nine goals, 24 assists) in 47 playoff games but has to win the Cup.
Each leads his team in average time on ice, playing more than 25 minutes a game. Any of the 32 NHL coaches would like to have either player at their disposal.
But which one would a coach in the NHL rather have right now?
That's the question before NHL.com staff writers Tom Gulitti and Mike Zeisberger in this installment of State Your Case.
Gulitti:Heiskanen is my pick in this debate because he is already a top-end defenseman and has the potential to continue to grow for the Stars. In his fifth season in the League, he has reached another level offensively with 29 points (five goals, 24 assists) in 35 games, putting him on pace to shatter his NHL career-high 36 points in 70 games last season. He leads Dallas by averaging 25:15 per game, which would be an NHL career high for him if he maintains that average throughout the full season. The departure of John Klingberg, who signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Ducks after last season, has allowed Heiskanen to take on a bigger role on the power play, and he's excelling with an NHL career-high 16 power-play points (one goal, 15 assists) for the Stars, who boast the League's second-ranked power play at 28.8 percent. As much as I admire Doughty, who has returned to play a vital role for the Kings after being limited by injuries last season, he's 33 years old. Heiskanen is at least Doughty's equal at this point in his career and is almost 10 years younger.
Zeisberger: Hey, I agree with Tom that Heiskanen is still growing, meaning we probably haven't seen him reach his ceiling yet. Doughty, on the other hand, has two Stanley Cup rings (2012, 2014) with the Kings, a Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman (2016) and helped Canada win Olympic gold twice (2010, 2014). Yes, I know, that was then, this is now. And if this debate was about who you'd rather have as a No. 1 defenseman in 2025-26, I likely would give the nod to the younger Heiskanen. But for the here and now, Doughty is still playing at an extremely high level with 21 points (two goals, 19 assists) in 39 games. Eleven of those have come on the power play where Doughty is the quarterback on the top unit. Just as important is his mentorship of the team's young defensemen, including Sean Durzi (24) and Mikey Anderson (23), who are the future. Heiskanen went to the Stanley Cup Final with the Stars in 2020, but he's yet to hoist the Cup. That's an intangible in Doughty's favor. He knows what it takes. It's part of the leadership package he brings to the table, all while still logging a team-high 26:26 per game.
Gulitti: I can't argue with 'Zize' about Doughty's value from his experience and leadership, so I won't try. And, yes, Heiskanen hasn't won the Stanley Cup, but he's 23 and championships are won by teams, not individuals. Still, as Mike noted, Heiskanen went to the 2020 Cup Final with the Stars. And he wasn't just a passenger on that trip. He was one of the drivers on that run in just his second NHL season, leading Dallas and finishing third in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) and averaging 25:58 in ice time in 27 games to help push an underdog team to within two wins of winning its first championship since 1999. His numbers were on par with Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs after getting 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) and averaging 26:28 in ice time in 22 postseason games. With the Stars (23-9-6) atop the Central Division and challenging for first in the Western Conference this season, Heiskanen should have another chance to show what he can do in the postseason and potentially get a chance to win the Cup. It would be fun if he ran into Doughty in playoffs too.
Zeisberger:I think Tom's concept of these playing against each other in the playoffs would be cool. It would be fascinating to watch. This much is certain: Expect Doughty to be calm, cool and collected the bigger the game is. At the 2010 Winter Olympics during the gold-medal game between Canada and the United States, who can forget the image of Doughty sitting on the bench bopping his head to the arena music during the third period with his team clinging to a one-goal lead? In the most pressure-packed of situations, Doughty was still loose while most of his teammates were tense. Such composure in the big moment is a trait only certain elite players have. Like Doughty.