Drew Doughty skated on Monday, and he hopes the Los Angeles Kings medical staff will clear him to play after he missed the start of training camp with an upper-body injury suffered during the offseason.

“I still don’t know the status on that but I’ve been feeling good. Feeling good for a while, no problems,” the defenseman told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. “Whenever the coaches and medical staff deem me ready to play, I’ll be ready to go.”

Doughty knew the injury wasn't serious, and he isn't worried about missing a few days of training camp because he kept in good shape.

"I knew that when I got back here they’d just kind of let me gradually get back into skates and get back on the ice, just to keep it safe," he said. "There’s no point in rushing anything."

Doughty wants to see some preseason action in order to regain his defensive timing and adjust to the physicality of puck battles along the boards, among other things. The blue-liner missed training camp in 2011 due to a contract dispute and suffered a concussion in the first month of the season.