Poll: A Little Drew Doughty Math...

Drew Doughty scored 16 goals and 43 assists (59 points, for those playing at home), and was a plus-20 in 2009-10, en route to becoming a Norris Trophy finalist.

He followed up that performance with 11 goals and 29 assists (40 total), and a plus-13 last season. That's a 30-percent drop (or more) in each category.

Doughty reportedly turned down a nine-year deal worth $6.8 million per year today. At age 21. Dean Lombardi committed almost seven million in cap space to a 21-year-old kid who couldn't even come close to following up a stellar season.

Now, supposedly this isn't about money, because the prevailing theory is that Doughty is supposedly looking for a shorter-term deal, e.g., five years, so he can be a UFA at 26, and really cash in then. The Kings likely don't want that, because they already have Anze Kopitar under a contract that would end at the same time. That, of course, is a potential problem.

Plus, let's face it... what if Doughty peaked in 2009-10? Do you even want to commit to this overrated little holdout for five years?

Or... the Kings can think about trading away his rights.

Soooooo... I'm going to play a little "Armchair Arbitrator" here. Here's my proposal:

Option #1: You want a short-term deal? Here you go: One-year... at half what the Kings offered in the long-term... so, $3.4 million. You don't even have to hit your Norris Trophy finalist benchmark. Hit 53 points, and we'll negotiate something further.

Option #2: We'll send your overrated butt whatever hot-mess team we damn well please, for anything ranging from a third-round draft pick all the way down to a Rick DiPietro-autographed mini-stick.

This, of course, is why I'm not a sports agent.

That aside, I don't want to have all the fun here, so I'm going to put up a poll. Should Doughty:

A) Sign a 1-year, $3.4M, and hit 53 points (A "put up or shut up" deal).

B) Get traded to the Winnipeg Jets for a Round 3-7 draft pick.

C) Get traded to the Ottawa Senators for a Round 3-7 draft pick.

D) Get traded to the Florida Panthers for a Round 3-7 draft pick.

E) Get traded to the Islanders for a Rick DiPietro-autographed stick.

F) Sit and rot.

Please cast your vote on the poll to the right. Tell your friends, and let's get a nice turnout going.

And, hey, if you want to write in a vote in the comments, go for it!

Thanks for reading.

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