Doughty LAK 4NF bug

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Drew Doughty is holding out hope he will be a late addition to Team Canada for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Canada has yet to name a replacement to its roster after defenseman Alex Pietrangelo of the Vegas Golden Knights withdrew on Jan. 26, and Doughty, the Los Angeles Kings defenseman, has been in contact with Canada's player relations adviser Ryan Getzlaf.

"Very. Very, very, very," Doughty said about his interest level in playing for Canada. "I want to be there."

Doughty made his season debut in a 3-0 loss at the Florida Panthers last Wednesday, playing 23:51 in his first action since breaking his left ankle in a preseason game against the Golden Knights on Sept. 25.

"[Getzlaf] basically just asked if I thought I'd be ready to play at that type of level," Doughty said Tuesday. "There's guys that they're looking at. They're going to watch me to see how my game is, so hopefully I play well enough."

Having ranked in the top four of time on ice per game in nine of the past 10 NHL seasons, including leading the League in total ice time five times, Doughty has played at least 23 minutes in all three games this season. That included 27:43 in a 3-0 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday after defenseman Mikey Anderson sustained an upper-body injury.

Doughty, 35, has been mostly pleased with his play despite the lengthy layoff, heavy workload, and a new defensive partner with Vladislav Gavrikov after Anderson got hurt. The Kings next host the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; FDSNW, TSN2, RDS).

"I'm still doing a decent job, but not as good as I know I can do," said Doughty, who had an assist in a 4-2 win at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. "But, yeah, pretty good, I think, considering how long I missed. But I'm going to improve and get better. … When you miss that many games, like, no matter how much stuff you do off the ice, you got to get game situations."

The Kings have three games before the 4 Nations Face-Off begins with Canada playing Team Sweden at Bell Centre in Montreal on Feb. 12 (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS) to open the tournament, and Doughty hopes to show he is ready to add to his already distinguished international resume. He is a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Canada (2010, 2014), won gold at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship and the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, and silver in the 2009 World Championship.

Kings coach Jim Hiller said Doughty has the organization's backing if he is invited to participate in the 4 Nations Face-Off, which will take place Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston.

"I know Drew is a competitor, he's a warrior," Hiller said. "He's given so much already to the success of the Canadian program. I'm sure he'd love to get out there and play again. We support him. Whichever way that comes down, we support him 100 percent."

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