Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Duncan Keith Or Drew Doughty?

05/21/2014 at 1:40pm EDT

Scott Burnside and Craig Custance of ESPN discuss who is the better defenseman, Keith or Doughty...

BURNSIDE: ... In Game 1, it was Keith ripping a hard shot that deflected off a defender's stick and then the ice before rocketing over Kings netminder Jonathan Quick's shoulder for what would be the game winner. Doughty, meanwhile, led all players in ice time and power play time. Talk about a great battle. Which begs the question: Whom would you take to build a team around?

Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman told me during the conference semifinals that when he took the job, one of the first calls he made was to Keith's agent to ensure that Keith wanted to stay with the team long-term. Keith wasn't too concerned about the money but wanted to be sure the team wasn't going to be one-and-done. As Keith told me, when you're done playing, all you'll have are memories, so you might as well have as many memories about winning. So far, so good for both he and the Blackhawks.

CUSTANCE: They're two great players who can change the game with one rush up the ice. You can build a team around either one and you're doing just fine.

While it pains me to pick someone over a fellow Michigan State Spartan, I'd lean toward Doughty if I were building my franchise. In fact, there are not many players in the league I'd want at any position more than Doughty. Maybe Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby. That's about it.

First, it's his age. Keith turns 31 years old in July, which still means he has plenty of good years left since defensemen typically have a longer shelf life in their peak than forwards. But Doughty is just 24. Twenty-four! He's got two Olympic gold medals, a Stanley Cup ring and he hasn't cracked 25 years old yet. It's amazing.

The magic number you hear with defensemen is that it takes a good 300 NHL games to learn how to play defense in this league and he's at 442 already at his age. I had a good chat today with Marian Gaborik about getting to know Doughty since the trade from the Eastern Conference and he raved about his teammate.

read on

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]

Most Recent Posts

Most Recent Comments

Comment by Sven22 in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Seider's Year - 4 minutes ago
Comment by Paul in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Same Lineup Tonight - 13 minutes ago
Comment by damndogrevenge in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Same Lineup Tonight - 39 minutes ago
Comment by bezukov in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Seider's Year - 43 minutes ago
Comment by bezukov in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Same Lineup Tonight - 47 minutes ago