In a recent interview with Jaime Maggio from Sports Central LA, Anže Kopitar, long-time star of the Los Angeles Kings, suggested that his upcoming 20th season in the NHL might be his last. He will be playing out the final year of a two-year, $14 million contract with the Kings this season.
The Jesenice, Slovenia native will certainly leave his mark on the franchise if he decides to hang up his skates after the 2025-26 season. He debuted for the Kings during the 2006-07 season and has been a major factor in them winning their only two Stanley Cup championships in franchise history.
He’s unlikely to pass Luc Robitaille as the organizational goal leader, but Kopitar is already the franchise leader in games played and assists. Furthermore, once he scores his 30th point this upcoming season, he’ll become the Kings’ franchise leader in points, passing Marcel Dionne. At any rate, Los Angeles would have a huge hole at center heading into the 2026-27 campaign if Kopitar does retire.
Additional notes from this morning:
- New star forward for the Vegas Golden Knights, Mitch Marner, opened up on his final days with the Toronto Maple Leafs at Team Canada’s Olympic orientation camp yesterday. Marner admitted that he and his family required full-time security at his residence in Canada for nearly two weeks after the Maple Leafs were eliminated in last year’s playoffs by the Florida Panthers. At the press conference, Marner said, “The market’s very passionate. They love their team. I know it, I was born and raised there. I’ve been a part of Leafs nation for a long time. But, when your family safety comes into question, especially having a new son, I don’t think it’s acceptable.“
- Despite being several years removed from his tenure as the head coach of the New York Rangers, Gerard Gallant wasn’t ready to retire, despite the lack of interest from the NHL, ultimately leading him to take on the role of head coach of the KHL’s Shanghai Dragons. In a new interview with Daria Tuboltseva of RG Media, Gallant opened up on the questions he got from his friends and family about the move, saying, “‘You are only 61 years old, and you want to coach again?’ It was the best opportunity, and I said, ‘I will give it a try.’ I wanted to try it, it was something new, and it was going to be tough. But I said, ‘I want to try, I want to keep coaching.’ I still do not feel like I am ready to retire.“
I appreciate the passion of Leafs fans, but that’s far beyond reasonable behavior and it’s probably going to cost them going forward. It already did cost them Ryan O’R by some reports.
That a boy Turk 61 and still has the passion to coach. Probably will be Vegas 2.0 in Shanghai
Kopitar is the modern version of Ron Francis.
Hands down the greatest player in Kings history.
Hands down? Not even open for debate? The Kings once employed a guy named Gretzky. He was pretty good and may be worthy of being in the conversation.
Definitely an interesting debate but Gretzky never won a cup with the Kings and largely built his legacy elsewhere. It’s basically the argument of greatest player who played for the Kings or greatest player as a King, which I would hands down give to Kopi. Regardless, Kopi may be the most underrated player of all time.
The conversation is Kopitar, Doughty, Dionne, Robitaille, Quick. Kopitar was the most complete of those guys. He’s arguably one of the top 10 two-way centers to ever play, and, at his peak, only Sidney Crosby was a truly better two-way player. If he played in New York or Toronto, he’d be a cover star of the league.
Well said!
Wayne Gretzky played 7+ years with the Kings, took them to a final, and put up seasons of 168,142, 163, 121, and 130 points but does not qualify as one of the five best Kings players? Kinda funny.
Dionne, Robitaille, Doughty, Quick, and Kopitar all played more seasons for LA. Gretzky had an amazing 1993 playoff run, but quite frankly, he sits behind Dave Taylor, Rob Blake, and Jeff Carter for me.
Okay then. I thought you were funny in an earlier post. Please allow me to change my answer. Given that your primary qualifier is now seasons played for the Kings, I now believe that you are funnier. Jeff Carter? Good stuff!
In their prime who do you take…. Kopitar or Barkov?
It’s a close one but as a Kings fan I would give it to Kopi. The argument I’ve made in his favor for years is that Kopitar never played with other elite talent consistently like a lot of his contemporaries did. He never had someone like Pastrnak, Kane, Marchand, Tkachuk, Huberdeau, etc. and yet put up similar or better numbers than them for a longer period. Hard to argue against this extended period of elite two-way play without an elite linemate.
Both are incredible – I’m also biased toward Kopi as a Kings fan. Give Barkov a few more years at this level, and he’ll be the answer.
Man that’s tough. I’ve always wondered what Kopitar’s offensive numbers would have been had he not played in a heavily sided defensive first system for so long.
I lean towards peak Barkov over peak Kopitar; one can argue that Kopitar might have scored more points in a different system, but Barkov HAS scored those points.
With that, Kopitar has an incredible, multi-decade career in which he’s never been even average, and he’s been more durable than Barkov. Kopitar was a star right out of the gate, and Barkov didn’t hit his stride until his third season. We’ve also no idea whether Barkov can keep being an elite star deep into his thirties; he’s at the age where decline normally starts to set in. At this stage, I’d rather have Kopitar’s career over Barkov’s.
The reason Kopitar is so great is that he never had a ‘prime”.
Just consistently good for so long.
20 years as a 1C.
on Marner needing protection
I wonder how much the ‘fan’ lost on gambling causing them to threaten an NHL player
I’d leave that dump of a town as well if I were him….
Just goes to show. There is a reason why Toronto appears on more than 50% of no trade list in the league
Players love playing their as a visitor, but you know how many top players end up leaving that organization that’s why they call it playing in the fishbowl
Selfish me wants Kopitar to stay around a few more years. A class act, the definition of teammate. One of the great all around players of his generation. He’s been so much fun to watch and easily became my all time favorite hockey player. It will suck to see him hang them up.
Oh absolutely. Hockey is blessed to have guys like Anze Kopitar around.