Doughty 'a little scared' of facing Golden Knights' Quick
For the first time in his 15-year NHL career, Los Angeles Kings veteran Drew Doughty is no longer teammates with Jonathan Quick, and the defenseman is wary about facing the new Vegas Golden Knights goaltender down the line.
"I'm a little scared of the fire he's probably going to have in his belly if we do play him," Doughty said, according to the Los Angeles Times' Helene Elliott. "It's not going to be easy, but you gotta do what you gotta do."
The Kings traded Quick, a conditional 2023 first-round pick, and a 2024 third-rounder to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and netminder Joonas Korpisalo on Wednesday.
However, Columbus flipped Quick to Sin City for goaltender Michael Hutchinson and a 2025 seventh-round pick on Thursday, with the Blue Jackets retaining 50% of Quick's $5.8-million cap hit.
Quick was reportedly displeased about being shipped to Columbus, according to Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli.
The netminder said the trade to Vegas is "motivating," according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger.
As of Friday, the Golden Knights and Kings sit in the top two spots of the Pacific Division and could potentially face each other in the playoffs. The two teams have met in the postseason once before in 2017-18 when Vegas swept Los Angeles in the first round.
Quick owns a career .921 save percentage and a 2.31 goals-against average in 92 career playoff appearances.
With Quick gone, Doughty and captain Anze Kopitar are the only two players remaining from the Kings' Stanley Cup-winning squads in 2012 and 2014.
Doughty said Quick's departure was "probably the toughest moment" of his career so far.
"The last two days it's affected us a lot. It's really sad and unexpected. And it sucks seeing one of your best friends of your life leave," he said, per Elliott. "Just so many emotions.
"It sucked. That's the bottom line. Never wanted to see (Quick) go. Expected to play with him the rest of my career. ... It's business."
Quick can get his first crack at his former team when the Golden Knights host the Kings on April 6.