Kings give Drew Doughty options on length of new contract

After a long lull in negotiations, the Kings have refined some concepts they previously discussed with representatives of restricted free-agent defenseman Drew Doughty and gave him choices for the duration of a new contract, General Manager Dean Lombardi said Tuesday.

Lombardi said he spoke Monday with Doughty’s agent, Don Meehan, and made an offer that “codifies what we’ve been talking about for a while.” Lombardi said the offer includes “different lengths for him to consider,” likely six to eight years.

“Everything’s been amicable. We’re waiting to hear back from them. They said they’d get back to us in a day or two,” Lombardi said. “So in terms of distance, I’ll probably have a better handle on that when we hear back.”

The Kings made an offer to Doughty before July 1, “but we were so far apart it never really got to the fine tuning,” Lombardi said. He wouldn’t specify a salary figure but a long-term deal could vault Doughty above center Anze Kopitar’s team-leading average annual value of $6.8 million.

Meehan did not respond to an email requesting a comment.

Lombardi also said the Kings filed their position with the NHL supporting their grievance over the Colin Fraser trade and that the Edmonton Oilers have a few days to respond. Commissioner Gary Bettman will then decide whether to hold a hearing, though Lombardi said the Kings can request one. They contend the Oilers misrepresented the extent of Fraser’s injury when Edmonton traded him in the Ryan Smyth deal. Fraser underwent ankle surgery last month.

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