It was only a matter of time until the injury bug hit one of the National Hockey League’s top players. But to happen in the preseason seems to be an unfair fortune for the Los Angeles Kings.

In the Kings’ second preseason game, defenceman Drew Doughty was battling for a loose puck with former teammate and former Vancouver Canuck Tanner Pearson, who’s on a professional tryout (PTO) with the Vegas Golden Knights. Doughty’s left skate gets caught up against the boards while going full speed, and he takes an awkward landing into the boards.

Doughty needed assistance off the ice and was unable to put any weight on his left leg. Watch the play here.

This is a massive loss for the Kings, as Doughty has been the heartbeat of Los Angeles’s back end for the last 16 seasons. The Kings’ backend was nothing to write home about with Doughty, but now, without him, it’s looking rather stale.

Mikey Anderson has proven to be a nice partner alongside Doughty. Vladislav Gavrikov has been a solid defensive addition since acquiring him from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Los Angeles will need to trust in the offensive prowess of Jordan Spence and the highly-touted Brandt Clarke.

This offseason, the Kings had some substantial losses to their forward corps. They lost Viktor Arvidsson in free agency to the Edmonton Oilers. And while he wasn’t great last season, Pierre-Luc Dubois is still considered a loss — but more in terms of what it means for the rest of the roster’s depth — after being traded to the Washington Capitals.

Even in a disappointing season, Dubois still scored 16 goals and 24 assists for 40 points while providing a solid third-line option. This allowed Quinton Byfield to play alongside Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, which helped with his breakout season. Now, with Dubois gone, the Kings have no choice but to put Byfield down the middle. Is the 22-year-old ready to run his own line?

Now, they filled some of those losses, signing Warren Foegele and trading for Tanner Jeannot. But that would be categorized as a downgrade offensively.

Here is how the Kings’ forward lines project for next season.

In the Dubois trade, the Kings were able to land Darcy Kuemper, who they hope will be their starting goaltender moving forward. Although, is he really an upgrade? Last season, the Kings had Cam Talbot and David Rittich as their tandem.

Here are all three of their numbers last season.

These stats show Kuemper had a far worse season than last year. Context is important, though; the Kings have a solid defensive structure. Maybe that will help turn Kuemper’s numbers around, or will it be more of the same without Doughty?

Last season, Vancouver shocked the hockey world by winning 50 games, finishing with 109 points and stealing the Pacific division title. Sure, they may have gotten worse defensively after losing Nikita Zadorov and Ian Cole, but their forward depth — especially on the wings — could be one of the strongest corps’ in the league.

Vancouver lost the season series to the Kings 3-1 last season, getting outscored 15-8. What the Canucks struggled with the most against LA was their trap in the neutral zone. However, Kings players voiced their displeasure with the defensive-first strategy, and they will look to play more aggressively this season.

This bodes well for Vancouver, as it should open up the middle for their new speedy wingers to take advantage of a weaker defence corps without Doughty and enter the zone more freely, which in turn should lead to more success against the Kings.

Due to offseason moves and the Doughty injury, it looks like the Kings enter this season worse than how they ended last year, and with the rest of the Pacific division also not having improved much, if all breaks right, this should open up a clear lane for the Canucks to walk right into a top three position in the division. Their most formidable competition for the top seed will be between the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights.