Sure, there was a team practice on Friday — the last one scheduled before the Kings leave for Quebec City, in fact.
However, there was one big topic that dominated every conversation… and it had to do with a player who wasn’t even on the ice.
Defenseman Drew Doughty will be sidelined for the next few months.
Now what?
As in, what does that mean for the defense? Who will take his spot alongside Mikey Anderson? Who will assume his spot on the power play? Who will fill in as alternate captain? And when might Doughty actually return?
“No guesses,” Hiller said when pressed for a rough timeline. “The most important thing for me, or for everybody around here, is that he’ll be back. It’s just a matter of, ‘When will he be back?’ I expect him back [during the regular season].”
[ed. note: We’ve heard around 10 weeks, so mid-December. We’ll see how that holds up over the next month or so.]
“If there’s one thing that Clarkie does better than anything, it’s probably run a power play,” Hiller began when talking about the team’s initial special teams alignment at practice earlier in the day. “So that’s probably going to be the easiest transition for him. You saw it out there today. He has great poise at the top and he’ll continue to improve his threats. As far as his shots look, we encourage him to shoot. But that’ll be pretty natural for them. That’s just like getting out of bed in the morning for him, as far as the power play and running the top.”
During his media availability on Friday, Clarke indicated he’s ready to play 18 minutes a night going forward. Is that something Hiller agrees with — especially after recently saying he wasn’t quite ready to take the reins off his young defenseman just quite yet?
“Well, if he earns them, I’ll be happy to give him 20,” Hiller quipped back. “We’re gonna [learn] who our best players are and we’re gonna play them. That’s we’ve tried to do here from the start. And it doesn’t matter, young or old. We have a lot of young players with potential who think they can take a step, Clarkie being one of them. If they take the step and continue to go, they’re going to get to go.”
Hiller went on to praise the 21-year-old phenom for finding some growth in his game over the summer.
“[He came back] focusing a little bit more on defense,” noted the Kings head coach. “That was probably the message that he left for the summer with. He has done exactly that since he’s been back. He’s done a very good job. The growth I’ve seen in him in that very short time, from the time he left [the NHL roster] until now, it’s impressive. He’s dialed in and he’s playing both sides.”
For more from Hiller, be sure to check out the full interview:
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