Quoting: Logan_Ollivier
Paying stars is never a problem so long as you aren't paying big money for what they used to be able to do rather than what they can do. Doughty for example is being paid for what he did in his prime. Same with Kopitar. Making both deals bad. They will never be able to do what they used to be able to do. Matthews and Marner are getting paid big while they are able to produce. Nothing wrong with that. Overpaying depth is really bad as well, which TO doesn't do.
I think Kopitar and Doughty are still very much worth their contracts.
This is the first season that Kopitar perhaps hasn't been the best player on the Kings. Vilardi looks like he might take over that mantle. Getting 6 out of 8 good value years out of that contract is pretty good. We'll see if he lives up to it this season. It's too soon to tell. Don't forget that in addition to being the Kings leading scorer every year, Kopitar is also one of the premier defensive forwards in the league.
Doughty was having a Norris-worthy season last year before he was injured. He had several down years when the Kings were bad, and was rightly criticized for phoning it in when the team wasn't good. Now that the Kings are back in playoff contention, his play has returned to the quality that it was before the rebuild started. I don't regret his contract for a minute, especially considering that he's single-handedly mentoring the Kings entire defensive corps.
I agree that it's not bad to pay your stars, but each team only gets two stars. Any more than that and you're tying up all your salary at the top of your contract, and pricing out the other complementary players. Brian Burke said it best. "Your top six gets you to the playoffs, but your bottom six wins you the Stanley Cup." (paraphrased - I don't remember the exact quote). If your bottom six is made up entirely of replacement level players on league minimum contracts, you're not going to make it very far in the playoffs.
The Kings chose their two stars in Kopitar and Doughty. Until Kopitar's current deal ends, adding another eight-figure deal is out of the question, as it should be for every team.