Drew Doughty Stud NHL Blueliner

Drew Doughty is having an amazing Sophomore season with the LA Kings. Just how amazing of a season? I decided to look at some select offensive defensemen in the modern era to see just where his sophomore season stacks up against some of the games best offensive d-men in that time.

Drew Doughty
2 years after being drafted 81gp. 16-42-58

Paul Coffey
2 years after being drafted 80gp. 29-60-89

Ray Bourque
1 year after being drafted 80gp. 17-48-65
2 years after being drafted 67gp. 27-29-56

Teppo Nimminen
4 years after being drafted 79gp. 11-32-43

Larry Murphy
1 year after being drafted 80gp. 16-60-76
2 years after being drafted 79gp. 22-44-66

Phil Housley
1 year after being drafted 77gp. 19-47-66
2 years after being drafted 75gp. 31-46-77

Al MacInnis
3 years after being drafted 51gp. 11-34-45

Brian Leetch
2 years after being drafted 17gp. 2-12-14
3 years after being drafted 68gp. 23-48-71

Sergei Zubov
22/23 years old (drafted at 20y/o)
49gp. 8-23-31

Rob Blake
4 years after being drafted 75gp. 12-34-46

Nicklas Lidstrom
3 years after being drafted 80gp. 11-49-60

Scott Niedermayer
2 years after being drafted 80gp. 11-29-40

Sergei Gonchar
4 years after being drafted 78gp. 15-36-41

Sandis Ozolinsh
3 years after being drafted 81gp. 26-38-64

Tomas Kaberle
4 years after being drafted 82gp. 7-33-40

Mike Green
4 years after being drafted 82gp. 18-38-56

Shea Weber
4 years after being drafted 79gp. 17-23-40


Most of the guys on the list took longer to reach the offensive level that Doughty is at now. Many other current high scoring defensemen took much longer to get to the offensive level that Doughty is at now. Players like Duncan Keith, Dan Boyle, Andrei Markov, and Brian Campbell all took significantly longer to get to such lofty point totals.

With the exception of the guys that broke in in the run n' gun 80's, Doughty stacks up very favorably against the current crop of offensive defensemen. Dare I say that he looks to be a generational talent on the blueline? I don't think that it would be much of a stretch to say just that.