Article on Doughty's rookie season

[Danny Darko]

ESPN Article

Doughty's offensive numbers won't knock you over -- he has 25 points (6 goals, 19 assists) and is a minus-15 in 73 games. But again, we're talking about a kid who has lined up most nights against the top forwards from the opposing teams, logging big minutes in critical situations. Did we mention he is still a teenager?

"He's just a smart hockey player with and without the puck," said Lombardi, who drafted Doughty second overall last June out of the Ontario Hockey League's Guelph Storm. "Really good defensemen don't make high-risk plays. If you think of Nick Lidstrom, he never gets himself in a situation where he really has to make a real high-level play. He just makes the right play at the right time. That's what strikes you when you watch Drew."

Lombardi said it's the little things that explain the effect Doughty has had this season.

"Even the way he gives pucks to forwards, he's thinking about the way that forward will be able to handle it and do something with it," he said. "Or if he has some space, he may take that extra little second, but not high-risk, to get that forechecker to bite on him and then give his partner more time.