Kings don’t have a deal with Drew Doughty

Restricted free-agent defenseman Drew Doughty and the Kings remain at odds on a new contract a month before training camp starts, but they were in sync Wednesday in denying reports of an agreement existing in principle or any form.

“No, not at all. That’s certainly not accurate,” Doughty’s agent, Don Meehan, said of reports attributed to unnamed sources on hockeybuzz.com and other websites. “We don’t have a deal.”

Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi declined to comment but indicated no accord was near with Doughty, a franchise defenseman and Norris Trophy finalist in 2009-10 as a second-year player.

Jack Ferreira, a special assistant to Lombardi, recently told the Riverside Press-Enterprise he had informed Lombardi that Doughty’s representatives “don’t want to make a deal … I would not be surprised if he was a holdout.” Meehan said that comment was “frustrating and disappointing to Drew,” who is working out regularly at home in London, Canada.

The Kings’ initial offer to Doughty in late June was for nine years at an annual average of approximately $6.5 million. Doughty is believed to prefer five to seven years.

For those seeking precedents, Meehan also represents Ducks winger Bobby Ryan, who was a prominent restricted free agent last summer and signed three days before camp began (The Kings open camp on Sept. 12). Meehan also represented goaltender Evgeni Nabokov in a 2002 dispute and holdout with the San Jose Sharks, whose general manager was Lombardi.