November 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n\u2013 Defenseman Drew Doughty skated this morning in a non-contact, red jersey. He was on his own, not with the full group, but it\u2019s always just a great sign to see Doughty on the ice as he works his way back from a lower-body injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe went out, put his skates on for the first time,\u201d Jim Hiller said after today\u2019s practice. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it went really well, he\u2019s a ways away, let me say that, it was just kind of a test run for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think Doughty is all that close in terms of like he\u2019s not going to play this weekend. He\u2019s still on a week-to-week timeline with the lower-body injury. The timeline was always estimated to be on the shorter side of week-to-week, considered to be more like 2-3 weeks than 4-6 and already seeing Doughty back on the ice would jive with that. It\u2019s been just over a week now since we got that update, so he is more than on the proper schedule. So, we\u2019ll keep an eye on Doughty and see where things go from there, but I\u2019d call today encouraging. <\/p>\n
\u2013 On the other side of things, forward Warren Foegele left today\u2019s practice early and did not return.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t talked to [the training staff] yet, but he did leave the ice, so that\u2019s never a good sign when you don\u2019t finish practice,\u201d Hiller added. \u201cSo I\u2019ll have to connect with [them], I haven\u2019t yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t know a ton beyond that. As Hiller indicated, it\u2019s never great news when you don\u2019t finish practice and you have to leave the ice early. I didn\u2019t see exactly what happened with Foegele, just saw him on his way off the ice. There was nothing to indicate it was related to the upper-body injury that cost him time earlier this month. Since it had just happened and Hiller spoke with the media just after practice, there just aren\u2019t any real updates to share beyond the fact that he left early. We\u2019ll connect with Hiller again in the morning before the game in Anaheim and see if there is any further update. Should he not be able to go, forwards Alex Turcotte and Jeff Malott are options to check in. <\/p>\n
\u2013 On Turcotte, Hiller was asked about how him sitting out a game can impact him. Hiller took the question a bit differently, to talk about how he felt Turcotte practiced today. Sometimes players sulk. Sometimes, they get down. Hiller felt that Turcotte specifically responded extremely positively today, with Hiller calling him the standout player from today\u2019s skate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll tell you this, because I talked to Turc, only because I noticed that Turc was the hardest working guy in practice. I thought he was the best player in practice today. He was shooting the puck, he was all over everything, you guys saw the drills, scoring goals, so that\u2019s how you respond, right? I mentioned it to him because he stuck out like a sore thumb. He\u2019s got the right attitude and hopefully that translates tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hiller ending the quote with \u201ctomorrow\u201d is telling, in that it implies that Turcotte will play against the Ducks. It\u2019s not a given he\u2019d be the guy to check back in if Foegele can\u2019t go, but he\u2019s a more like-for-like player than Jeff Malott, who is the other option. Also a chance they both play. That\u2019s putting the cart ahead of the horse, though. For now, just good to hear about his response and I\u2019d expect him back in soon. Turcotte was on the ice late for extra work too, one of the last guys on the ice. Good to see a guy in that position working on his game. <\/p>\n
Preview to come tomorrow morning, Insiders! Kings in Anaheim for the first Freeway Faceoff of the season and one of the first games I\u2019d consider to be meaningful between those two teams in some time. Spoke with Corey Perry about that today and who would know better than Perry. More to come!<\/p>\n