When it comes to the muddled negotiations between Drew Doughty’s reps and the Los Angeles Kings, the cliche “No news is good news” isn’t really true. As I wrote before, it seems like Kings GM Dean Lombardi and Doughty’s agent Don Meehan are in a tense staring contest with millions – not to mention the Kings’ seemingly promising upcoming season – hanging in the balance.

The latest news is more of the same: the word from Lombardi’s camp is that there’s nothing new to report regarding the negotiations according to report by Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times.

With the underlying feeling of hostility permeating between at least some people involved, it’s easy for some to forget that Doughty will eventually need to return to work with the team that drafted him second overall in 2008. Kings coach Terry Murray told Elliott that he has Doughty in mind when drawing up line combinations.

But Murray said that in preparing for the season, “he’s very much in the front of my mind whenever I sit down and go through the lines and the defense pairings. … If things happen where he’s here two days before the season starts, he’s in the lineup and ready to go.”

It’s not exactly ideal for Doughty to miss most – if not all – of training camp and the preseason, but he shouldn’t take a long time to shake off the rust whenever he signs with the Kings. Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later, though.

(H/T to Rotoworld.)