Kings make ‘best’ offer to Drew Doughty, GM says

General Manager Dean Lombardi said the Kings have made their “best” offer to restricted free agent Drew Doughty and will consider reducing that amount each day the 21-year-old defenseman is unsigned.

“We all know he’s a lively kid. He loves to play. He brings life to your room, let alone what type of player he is,” Lombardi said Friday after the remaining players underwent physical exams and fitness tests to open training camp. “That said, we have to move on here and focus on what we have, and we have a good team.

“At some point, he’s going to be a King. He’s going to be a King a long time. It’s a bump in the road, but for the short and long term, there’s no doubt that this is the right thing in terms of what we have out there.”

After Doughty rejected the Kings’ initial nine-year proposal, Lombardi came back with six to eight years at an average of $6.8 million a year, putting Doughty on par with more experienced first-line center Anze Kopitar as the Kings’ highest-paid players by average salary. Doughty and his agent, Don Meehan, rejected that. They’re believed to be seeking $7 million a year based on Doughty’s unquestioned mobility and scoring potential. Meehan declined to comment Friday.

Lombardi said he and Meehan had a “civilized” conversation Thursday. “We always keep the lines open. But there’s probably not much more we can say or many more options we can look at,” Lombardi said, adding that he spoke directly to Doughty briefly last week and might soon try another direct appeal.

“Even though we’re going through this, I still believe that Kings phone is sitting in his bedroom,” Lombardi said, referring to Doughty’s tales of growing up a Kings fan and owning a phone with the team’s logo.

The Ducks also opened camp with physicals and testing. Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky was excused to attend the funeral in Slovakia of Pavol Demitra, a victim of the plane crash that wiped out the KHL Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

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