Drew Doughty calls Kirill Kaprizov 'overpaid.'

I am more than a little surprised that Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty would choose this particular angle of attack.

Over the weekend the Kings blue liner made some comments that generated quite a lot of attention, especially when it comes to the fan base of the Minnesota Wild. Conducting an interview prior to facing off against the Wild on Saturday night, Doughty was asked to share his thoughts on some of the Wild's most prominent players. One of those questions centered around Minnesota Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov, the National Hockey League's reigning Calder Trophy winner, and Doughty's answers were less than flattering.

Doughty initially called him "rookie of the year" before then asking the reporter if he was indeed rookie of the year, but it was his second response that drew the ire of the Wild fan base. Doughty went on to suggest that the Russian forward was simply earning too much money and doing so too quickly.

"I was going to say overpaid for 45 games in the league," admitted Doughty.

The reason I was so surprised to see Doughty make these comments is due to the criticism that he himself has been the target of since signing his monster deal. Since signing his 8 year deal, a deal that carries an average annual value and cap hit of $11 million per season, Doughty has largely failed to show the level of talent that earned him that contract in the first place. In fact I think you wouldn't be that hard pressed to find members of the Kings' fan base who lament the fact that Doughty will eat up $11 million worth of cap space all the way through the 2026 - 2027 season, if he does indeed play out the full term of his deal.

To make matters worse it would be Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild who got the last laugh in this one, with the Wild defeating the Kings 3 - 2 on Saturday night. Doughty even finished with a plus minus rating of -1 on the night in spite of the fact that he picked up a point on both of the Kings goals.

Here is how one social media user chose to respond to the comments: