Canada has added Drew Doughty to its roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, choosing the veteran defenceman as the injury replacement for Alex Pietrangelo, who withdrew from the tournament.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist and two-time Stanley Cup champion from London, Ont., recently made his NHL season debut with the Los Angeles Kings after breaking his left ankle in an exhibition game in September. Had he not been injured, Doughty would have been on the initial roster unveiled in December.
Doughty has spent his entire 17-year career with Los Angeles, serving as an alternate captain for the last nine seasons (2016-25).
The 35-year-old is the team’s all-time leader in points by a defenceman while ranking eighth in career scoring (156 goals, 513 assists for 669 points in 1,179 regular-season games.
Internationally, he has won gold medals at the Olympic Winter Games (2010, 2014), world juniors (2008) and World Cup of Hockey championship (2016), plus a 2009 world championship silver medal.
“Obviously he’s got a ton of experience internationally and then in the NHL on the runs that he’s been on with L.A.,” Canada captain Sidney Crosby said. “But I think above that too he’s pretty versatile back there.
“He’s a guy you can play in any situation, really, so I think just his experience and the fact that he can play in a lot of different situations would be things that he brings.”
Crosby’s status is now the most pressing issue for Canada, after the Pittsburgh Penguins centre was injured in a game earlier this week. Canada opens the tournament Wednesday against Sweden at 8 p.m. ET in Montreal, with the first practices for all four teams set for Monday.
The Canadians will face the United States Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. in Montréal and Finland two days later at 1 p.m. at TD Garden in Boston before the tournament concludes in the city with the Feb. 20 championship game.
