Ryan McDonagh, Drew Doughty two of the NHL’s best defensemen

LOS ANGELESF — Two of the better all-around blueliners in the NHL were on the ice at Staples Center on Thursday night when the Kings hosted the Rangers: Drew Doughty and Ryan McDonagh. The duo — one Canadian, one American and both 26 — are the only defensemen who have at least 30 points and a plus-20 rating this season.

But if recent form holds, they won’t win the James Norris Memorial Trophy, which has been awarded to 25 different players since its inception in 1954 to honor “the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.’’

Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association vote at the end of each regular season, and Kings coach Darryl Sutter is openly lobbying for Doughty. “They’re just going to give it to the defenseman with the most points,” he said three weeks ago. “Change the award. He’s the best defenseman in the league. Easy. Not even close. Every situation, he’s the best defenseman I’ve seen. I don’t jump on guys’ wagons because I coach them or because we’re playing against them.”

To be accurate, in the last six seasons, the trophy has been awarded to the defenseman who finished either first or second in points. Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson won in 2012 and 2015 with the most points. In lockout-shortened 2013, Montreal’s P.K. Subban tied for the points lead. Chicago’s Duncan Keith won twice when finishing second in points and Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom won in 2011 when finishing second.

It’s true that Doughty was a Norris finalist last season; McDonagh, the Rangers’ captain and U.S. Olympian, finished eighth in the voting in 2014 and 11th in 2015. Doughty is 13-31-44 and plus-22 in 69 games this season. McDonagh is 9-23-32 in 64 games and plus-22. Karlsson has 73 points. Converted forward Brent Burns has 64 points for the San Jose Sharks, whom the Rangers visit tomorrow.

There’s no accounting for toughness. McDonagh’s offensive game has re-surfaced after he suffered a concussion on a sucker punch from the Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds on Feb. 8 and took an elbow to the jaw 10 days later that brought a three-game suspension for Toronto’s Leo Komarov.

McDonagh, who leads the Rangers in ice time at 22:36 per game and is third in blocked shots, has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in his last 24 games. Teammate Keith Yandle (5-35-40) has more points than McDonagh, but very few would consider him the team’s best all-around defenseman.

“He’s one of the hardest-working guys I’ve ever coached,” Alain Vigneault said of McDonagh. “He’s a great role model.”

Doughty certainly has a better resume. He has played on the Kings’ two Stanley Cup championship teams and has won gold medals with Canada in the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.

But even stars have forgettable moments, because they’re generally in the middle of heated battles around the blue paint. Against the Stars on Tuesday, Doughty, standing in the crease facing the net, slammed the puck through his own goaltender, Jhonas Enroth, in an apparent clearing attempt. McDonagh, who has had pucks carom off him and into the net, inadvertently bowled over Henrik Lundqvist while chasing a puck behind the goal line on March 3. The collision caused Lundqvist to miss three games with neck spasms.

Don’t hold that against them. Both Doughty and McDonagh will have an impact in the playoffs even if they don’t win the Norris Trophy.