Dougherty is an impressive defenseman in most aspects of the game, playing physically and taking care of business in his own end first, while getting involved offensively with strong puck movement and a good point presence. Dougherty plays a rough defensive game, stepping up aggressively on his man and using his body to take players into the boards and box them into the corners. He makes big hits when stepping up on players taking the outside lane, but he also uses his body effectively when just tying players up and battling for possession. He plays with an edge and isn’t afraid of getting involved. He shows a willingness to stick up for his teammates, and gets involved in post-whistle scrums when his teammates or goalie are being mistreated. Dougherty is a competitive player who will battle for the puck in his own end and doesn’t like allowing much space to his opposition. Dougherty contains his man well on defense, using his stick and body to take guys wide and keep them off their angle. He is very effective in all defensive situations. Dougherty also shows strong offensive skill in his ability to make strong outlet passes and send his forwards up the ice with quick feeds out of the zone. He is solid under pressure, poised with the puck and quickly finds passing routes leading out of his own zone. He showed the ability to handle the puck at the line in order to keep offensive pressure going. He displays a quick release on his wrist and slap shots that he uses to generate chances for a redirection in front or to create a rebound chance. Dougherty illustrates decent straight-line speed and lateral mobility. Has decent recovery speed as well. (May 2014)