Kings defenseman Drew Doughty placed in COVID protocol

A seemingly never-ending stream of COVID-19 news this week continues, as the Los Angeles Kings announced Thursday that defenseman Drew Doughty entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol. Additionally, the team placed Andreas Athanasiou on injured reserve retroactive to December 14.

It’s been a tough season health-wise for Doughty, but when he’s been in the lineup, he’s having one of his best seasons in recent memory. Limited to only 11 games this season after a knee injury early in the year, Doughty had 13 points in those 11 contests, the best scoring pace of his career. He now joins Mikey Anderson, Alexander Edler and Sean Walker as the unavailable defensemen for the Kings.

The Kings are scheduled to play Florida on Thursday night, and the Panthers are facing COVID issues as well.

Athanasiou is out with a lower-body injury, continuing what’s been a successful but injury-riddled campaign for him as well. When in the lineup, he’s been a productive depth piece for the team with six points in 11 games. He’ll miss at least the next five days due to the retroactive nature of the injured reserve placement.