I mean, that's fine if our goal is to tank this season(which honestly might not be a bad idea for the chance at Bedard). You are talking about giving PP1 duties to a forward with 14 points in 51 games and a rookie dman who just registered his first point.
Over the past decade Kopitar is 11th in powerplay points and it's not just from him getting too many minutes, he has a PP p/60 just behind Tavares and ahead of Patrick Kane. Doughty is 6th among defensemen and his PP p/60 is just behind Karlsson and ahead of Pietrangelo. Doughty was also 7th in PP p/60 last season among defensemen. It's not like they have been the ones failing to produce on the powerplay.
The PP lives and dies on the decision making of Kopitar and Doughty. Occasionally it does work, just nowhere near enough, especially nowadays as Anze wears down.
The rest of the argument is part of the problem. Its considered a birthright for 8 and 11. Regardless of whether its working or not, they get those minutes until, like Brown, retirement.
Last night was, in my opinion, Kopitar's worst game as a King. He was totally spent, dumb penalty early, icings, flubbed passes and passes received, offered no support to his linemates, got walked on the first Caps goal and never even hit a stride on the line change that led to the third goal. He just couldn't keep up with the pace of a game that was frankly the slowest game of the year.
The plan for life after Kopitar should be in full effect, but his usage and that of the kids behind him are really, really concerning.
