It’s an Olympic year for the NHL, which means instead of a six-month preamble to the playoffs that the regular season usually is, the first three months end up being a preamble to the announcement of Olympic rosters. Then the next six weeks are seeing if any of those picked gets hurt and who replaces anyone who does. Then there’s the actual Olympic tournament, and then a six-week sprint to the playoffs. This will be the new pattern for the NHL every two years, thanks to the reintroduction of the World Cup in 2028. Hey, it’s variety!
Which means most players, at least the stars, end up talking about the Olympics as well as their hopes and expectations for their NHL teams. Drew Doughty is no different.
“I expect to be on the team,” Doughty told NHL.com at Hockey Canada’s 2025 National Teams Orientation Camp last month. “I know it’s going to be hard for me to make it, but personally I expect to be on that team. I do think making the best team in the world at 36 years old is quite an accomplishment. That would be amazing. I’ve honestly been thinking about this way too much and it’s still so far away.”
Here’s the thing, Drew. As “amazing” as it would be, it probably would be an indictment on where the Canadian blue line is come February if your hairy ass washes up in Italy.
We can put in a few locks for the Canadian defense, assuming health. Cale Makar and Devon Toews will be the top pairing, importing their chemistry from the NHL directly to the Olympics. Shea Theodore is going to be the unquestioned #1 in Vegas now that Alex Pietrangelo’s hips have turned to fairy dust, so he’s going to Milan,too.
As weird as it is to say about, y’know, CANADA, from there it can be up to the eye of the beholder. What we do know is that Doughty only made the 4 Nations roster after Pietrangelo pulled out days before the tournament, and probably only because the coaches all had heard of him. But if Doughty was the last add, then we know that Josh Morrissey, Colton Parayko, and Travis Sanheim were all ahead of him. Thomas Harley was added mid-tournament, and looked really solid. He’s at least on equal footing with Doughty.
But that’s just the surface. What really should be the determining factor for Doughty and his Olympic chances is that he simply wasn’t very good for the Kings last year. At 36, it’s unlikely to get better.
Doughty’s metrics for the Kings last season were some of the worst of his career. His Corsi-percentage was barely over 50 percent, which was some five points below the Kings’ rate as a team. It was the first time in five seasons Doughty didn’t carry the play, in terms of attempts, above the team-rate. Not only was he below the team-rate, he was in need of a sherpa to get to the team-rate from where he was. It was the same story when it came to expected-goals percentage, as Doughty was a drag on the Kings in that sense, too (51.4 xG%, -1.32 relative).
Perhaps more important, in the biggest games, Doughty ended up with orange and blue tire tracks across his chest in the playoffs. The Oilers simply harvested his organs over six games, and some Olympic games are going to look like playoff games. Doughty had a 43% Corsi and a 37% xG-share, which are woeful. Strangely, the Kings mostly started him in his own zone during the playoffs, and it did not work.
Would Canada be able to only start him in the offensive zone? Makar and Toews would probably get a lot of those shift-starts. Morrissey and Thedore could probably take dungeon shifts. But Doughty wouldn’t be able to be exclusively an offensive weapon on a third-pairing.
Doughty can’t really kill penalties on a team like Canada either. He was the fourth-choice d-man for the Kings last year on the kill, and wasn’t all that good at it (ranked 54th among d-men in xGA/60 on the kill last season).
Even if Canada were interested in that, there are better candidates. Mackenzie Weegar’s metrics are far better. Noah Dobson’s metrics are far better. Evan Bouchard already has an understanding with Connor McDavid and can run a power play better.
It’s nice that Doughty wants a third Olympic medal. But life is full of not getting what you want.
Drew Doughty Might Want To Get Back To The Olympics, But Canada Can Do Better