Drew Doughty to miss Panthers game, in COVID protocol

Despite Thursday’s game continuing amid the Panthers’ COVID concerns, the LA Kings will also be short-handed as defenseman Drew Doughty has landed in the NHL’s COVID protocol.

The @LAKings have made the following player transactions:

Forward Andreas Athanasiou has been placed on injured reserve (retroactive to Dec. 14).

Defenseman Drew Doughty has been placed on the non-roster/COVID-19 list.

— LA Kings PR (@LAKingsPR) December 16, 2021

Doughty continued where he left off after the knee injury in Dallas. The 32-year-old has three goals and 10 assists in 11 games while averaging 24:49 time-on-ice.

The Kings were already thin on defense with Alex Edler out long-term after leaving last Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury. In the meantime, the team called up Christian Wolanin, who was recently claimed off waivers from the Sabres.

Mikey Anderson will return to the lineup after missing Tuesday’s game with a non-COVID illness. But now Olli Maatta becomes the most experienced blue liner in the Kings’ lineup.

Of course, the other notable item from the tweet above is that forward Andreas Athanasiou is on the injured reserve after leaving Tuesday’s game late in regulation with an apparent lower-body injury.