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Anze Kopitar

Kings Activate Anze Kopitar Off Injured Reserve

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It turns out that Anze Kopitar’s foot injury wasn’t as serious as they initially assumed.  Originally given a week-to-week diagnosis barely a week ago, he’s already ready to return as the team announced (Twitter link) that Kopitar has been activated off injured reserve.  It’s expected he’ll return to the lineup tonight against Nashville and play alongside Andrei Kuzmenko and Adrian Kempe.

The 38-year-old wound up missing just four games due to the injury with Los Angeles faring relatively well without him, posting a 2-1-1 record in that stretch, finding themselves just a point out of a playoff spot.  Still, having their top center available to them, one who plays in all situations, will be a nice boost.

Kopitar was off to a strong start to his 20th and final NHL season before the injury, picking up four assists in as many games while logging 18:45 of ice time per game.  While his offensive output has dipped slightly in recent years, he’s still coming off a 67-point effort last season and given his usage in the early going this season, there’s no reason to think he can’t be similarly impactful in 2025-26.

Los Angeles had an open roster spot prior to the activation so no corresponding roster move needed to be made.  Meanwhile, at first glance, it’s likely to be one of Alex Turcotte or Jeff Malott who loses their spot in the lineup to make room for Kopitar’s return.

Kings Activate Corey Perry From Injured Reserve

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2:40 p.m.: Perry has indeed been activated with Kopitar landing on IR, the team announced.

12:25 p.m.: The Kings will have offseason pickup Corey Perry in the lineup tonight for the first time this season, the team’s Zach Dooley relays. He began the year on injured reserve and will need to be activated. Los Angeles does not have an open roster spot and will need to make a corresponding transaction, which will likely be an IR placement for Anže Kopitar, who’s out week-to-week with a foot injury.

Perry, 40, moved to his sixth team in the last seven years when he inked a one-year, $2MM deal with the Kings on July 1. He was one of many of general manager Ken Holland’s pickups in his first offseason in L.A., alongside Joel Armia, Cody Ceci, Brian Dumoulin, and Anton Forsberg. The four-time All-Star is coming off a 19-goal, 30-point showing with the Oilers, his best offensive showing in three years, but sustained a knee injury during an informal skate shortly before training camp that required surgery. He was given a six-to-eight-week return timeline, putting him back in the lineup significantly ahead of schedule.

It’s unclear who’s coming out of the lineup to make way. It could be center Samuel Helenius. He’s the only one of the 12 forwards who played L.A.’s last game that hasn’t appeared in every contest so far this year. Doing so would likely mean shifting Alex Turcotte to the middle to open a spot for Perry on the wing. Even considering his limited ice time in recent years (he averaged 11:56 per game for Edmonton in 2024-25), it would make sense for him to assume fourth-line duties out of the gate as he gets back into the swing of things ahead of schedule and without a conditioning stint.

It’s worth noting Perry is still eligible for all of his performance bonuses – he could double his $2MM base salary by playing at least 50 games and if the Kings make the Stanley Cup Final. Just reaching the 50 GP mark, still well within reach, would get him $1.5MM.

Anze Kopitar Out Week-To-Week With Foot Injury

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The Kings announced that captain Anže Kopitar has been listed out week-to-week with a foot injury. There’s no IR placement for him yet, but there could be one coming soon to give L.A. a roster spot as they’re down to 12 healthy forwards.

Kopitar, who said last month that 2025-26 will be his final season, is now ticketed for what could be the lengthiest absence of his 20-year career. The ever-durable Slovenian center has never missed more than 10 consecutive regular-season games, and that came all the way back in his rookie season in 2006-07. He hasn’t missed more than a single game in a season since 2016-17. He sustained the injury in Monday’s shootout loss to the Wild, blocking a shot with his foot that caused him to miss yesterday’s loss to the Penguins (although he was initially considered a game-time decision). He hasn’t practiced since the injury, so it’s unlikely he’s stressed it further.

The 38-year-old has been a bright spot in what’s otherwise been a dismal start to the season in Los Angeles. The club is 1-3-1, tied for the second-lowest points total in the league, and is now without its top center for the foreseeable future. Kopitar was still holding down the workload he’s had for so many years, rattling off four assists in four games while averaging 18:45 per game and going 49-for-77 (63.6%) on faceoffs. The Kings were also allowing just 1.1 goals against per 60 minutes with Kopitar on the ice at even strength, the third-best figure on the team among forwards behind Phillip Danault and Samuel Helenius.

Under the hood, things don’t look particularly dire for the Kings. They’re still controlling possession well at 5-on-5 but have fallen victim to poor finishing (8.7%) and goaltending (.861 combined SV%). Missing Kopitar’s still high-end playmaking ability won’t help the former number, though. Losing his intangibles, as well as shouldering the loss of still a top-10 two-way forward in the league, is a hard pill to swallow for a club needing to string together a few wins to avoid sinking too far below the playoff line too early in the season.

Danault was elevated into Kopitar’s role between Andrei Kuzmenko and Adrian Kempe last night. It’s unclear if that will hold or if the club might rather give the younger Quinton Byfield, who’s largely assumed to be Kopitar’s long-term successor as the Kings’ new No. 1 pivot, a shot in those minutes. They’re also without offseason addition Corey Perry, who’s missed the entire year to date with a knee injury.

Anze Kopitar Announces Retirement Following 2025-26 Season

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Kings franchise center Anze Kopitar will retire following the 2025-26 campaign, he said in a press conference Thursday. He confirms what he alluded to last month as he enters the final season of the two-year, $14MM extension he signed in 2023.

It’s a trying day for L.A. sports fans, who also saw MLB’s Dodgers announce future Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw will retire at the end of the 2025 campaign. “This will be my last year in the NHL,” Kopitar said. “[My family has] been by my side for 20 years. They now deserve a husband and a dad. I want to get this announcement out of the way now, so it’s not a distraction. I don’t want the attention on me. The moves we made made us better. I can’t wait to start.”

Like his baseball counterpart, Kopitar was a first-round pick by his club and spent his entire career in Los Angeles. The 11th overall pick of the 2005 draft from Sweden’s Södertälje SK wasn’t only the first player from Slovenia to be drafted in the first round, he was the first to even make his NHL debut when he arrived in North America one year later. He hit the ground running in 2006-07, breaking camp with the Kings and immediately stepping in as their top-line center with 61 points in 72 games while seeing north of 20 minutes per game as a rookie. That wasn’t enough to make him a Calder Trophy nominee in a stacked class that included Evgeni Malkin, Paul Stastny, and Jordan Staal, though.

That marked the beginning of what will be a 20-year career, one of the most consistent of its kind. Kopitar continued to flirt with the point per game mark in his second year, making the All-Star Game after tallying 77 points in 82 appearances. He spent a few years struggling to carry the burden of a Kings club that was exiting a rebuild, but after he made the playoffs for the first time in 2010, he finished top 15 in Selke Trophy voting for eight consecutive seasons, cementing himself alongside Patrice Bergeron as the best two-way forward of the 2010s.

While the Kings have had some star power in their lengthy franchise history, Wayne Gretzky notwithstanding, it was Kopitar who first managed to bring the Stanley Cup to Hollywood. The Kings advanced to three straight Western Conference Finals from 2012-14 and ended up converting those into championships on the first and last occasion. During that three-year run, Kopitar’s 188 points in 211 regular-season games ranked 12th in the league, and his +60 rating ranked ninth. No one had more playoff points than Kopitar’s 55 in 64 games during that span.

L.A. had rewarded Kopitar nicely coming off his entry-level deal, giving him a seven-year, $47.6MM commitment following his sophomore season. Before that deal was due to expire in the summer of 2016, the Kings extended him on his big payday – an eight-year, $80MM contract that coincided with him assuming the captaincy from Dustin Brown. While the Kings’ team success dipped in the latter half of the 2010s, that contract saw Kopitar have his career year in 2017-18. He posted a 35-57–92 scoring line in 82 games, remarkably his only time over the point-per-game threshold, with a +21 rating to take home his second Selke Trophy and finishing third in MVP voting, his highest-ever finish for the Hart.

Even as Kopitar enters his age-38 season, he remains an effective top-six center. The slow signs of decline are there, though. His 21 goals and 67 points in 81 games last season tied for his lowest output since 2019, and his usage has ’dwindled’ to a few ticks under 19 minutes per game. He’s still one of the league’s best faceoff men, winning 57.2% of his draws last year, and has continued to rattle off four consecutive top-10 Selke finishes. One noticeable dropoff is his willingness to deliver and take contact. While never an overtly physical center, he recorded a career-low 31 hits in 2024-25. The tradeoff is durability – he’s only missed four games in the last eight seasons.

Those hoping for Kopitar to be a part of the Kings’ bench or front office next year will be disappointed. He’s planning on moving his family back to Slovenia after the season ends and isn’t leaving the door open to change his mind on retirement, he told Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period. Nonetheless, he’ll retire sitting right alongside Gretzky, Marcel Dionne, and Luc Robitaille as the most impactful players in franchise history, and he’s the only one to spend his entire career in California. His 1,278 career points rank second in franchise history behind Dionne’s 1,307, so he’ll end up as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer barring a highly disappointing sendoff campaign. With two Cups, two Selkes, and likely over 1,300 career points when all is said and done, he’s a virtual lock to be inducted into the Hall of Fame when he’s eligible in the class of 2029.

Kopitar now looks to deliver at least a playoff series win in his final season, something the Kings haven’t accomplished since winning the Cup 11 years ago. He’ll do so as his successor as the club’s leading offensive producer, winger Adrian Kempe, is also a pending unrestricted free agent.

All of us at PHR congratulate Kopitar on a spectacular career.

Image courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images.

Morning Notes: Kopitar, Marner, Gallant

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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.“

Snapshots: Kopitar, Silovs, Dello, Emilio Pettersen

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Kings center Anze Kopitar is in the final season of his contract and is eligible to sign an extension.  However, while the team is hoping to get a new deal in place for Adrian Kempe, that won’t be the case for the captain.  In an appearance on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio earlier this week (Twitter link), GM Ken Holland indicated that Kopitar’s camp has indicated that he isn’t looking to sign a new deal at this time and intends to take a year-by-year approach moving forward.  The 37-year-old has played 1,454 games over his career in Los Angeles but is at the stage where it makes sense to assess things one year at a time.  Last season, Kopitar was still quite productive, tallying 21 goals and 46 assists in 81 games along with nine points in seven playoff contests.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Before he was traded to Pittsburgh, the Oilers showed interest in goaltender Arturs Silovs, relays Postmedia’s Kurt Leavins. However, the Canucks indicated that they would not move him to Edmonton, their division rival.  Knowing that Silovs was likely to be claimed on waivers in training camp, Vancouver elected to send him to the Penguins for a fourth-round pick and prospect Chase Stillman.  But the fact that Edmonton was discussing Silovs suggests that GM Stan Bowman is keeping an eye on the goaltending market heading into training camp.
  • UFA defenseman Tory Dello has inked a one-year deal with Karlovy Vary in Czechia, per a team release. The 28-year-old started the season in Detroit’s system but was traded to New Jersey just after the NHL trade deadline (but before the AHL one, keeping him eligible to play down the stretch).  Between the two teams, Dello had eight points in 41 games; this will be his first stint overseas after spending the last five years in the AHL.
  • UFA winger Mathias Emilio Pettersen is expected to sign with SHL Djurgarden, reports Hockey News SE’s Mattias Persson. The 25-year-old spent last season with AHL Texas, collecting nine goals and 20 assists in 70 regular season games while adding three points in 14 playoff contests.  However, Emilio Pettersen wasn’t eligible to be tendered a qualifying offer last month as he qualified for Group Six unrestricted free agency and it appears he’ll be using that to take a chance at playing in a new league.

Kings’ Anže Kopitar Wins 2024-25 Lady Byng Trophy

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Kings center Anže Kopitar has won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for the 2024-25 season, the NHL announced Thursday. According to the league, the award is given “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.” As with most other major trophies, it’s voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the regular season.

As the full voting results show, Kopitar was far from a unanimous first-place vote and narrowly edged out Brayden Point, Jack Eichel, and Jaccob Slavin, all of whom had at least 27 first-place nods. It’s Kopitar’s third Lady Byng, putting him in a tie for fifth-most in league history. Frank Boucher (seven), Wayne Gretzky (five), Pavel Datsyuk (four), and Red Kelly (four) are the only ones ahead of him.

Others receiving first-place votes, listed in order of total points awarded, were Nick Suzuki, Cale Makar, Marc-André Fleury, Mitch Marner, Colton Parayko, Jake Sanderson, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Kirill Marchenko.

Kopitar, 38 in August, appeared in 81 games for Los Angeles in 2024-25 in what was his 19th NHL season, all with the Kings. Still an effective top-line piece, he also finished eighth in Selke Trophy voting after posting a 21-46–67 scoring line, a +14 rating, and 67 blocks while winning 57.2% of his faceoffs. As always important for Lady Byng voting, Kopitar took just two penalties all season – a holding call against the Devils in January and a cross-checking penalty against Utah in April.

The all-time great Slovenian pivot previously won the award following the 2015-16 and 2022-23 seasons. He was also a finalist back in 2014-15.

Image courtesy of Alex Gallardo-Imagn Images.

Kings Notes: Jeannot, Kopitar, Lewis, Bergevin

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The Los Angeles Kings held exit interviews on Monday, providing a chance for many players to share their final thoughts on this year and first impressions of next season. For forward Tanner Jeannot, it was a chance to share more about the injury that held him out of the final 19 games of the season. Jeannot told with Kings insider Zach Dooley, that he sustained a groin injury and was doing all he could to make a return during the first round. It appeared to be a non-contact injury suffered when he went down to block a shot in the Kings’ March 25th win over the New York Rangers.

Jeannot is one of four Kings forwards set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer. He’ll be coming off a two-year, $5.33MM contract originally signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Los Angeles reeled him in last summer for a second-round and fourth-round draft pick. Jeannot delivered 13 points, 89 penalty minutes, and 11 minutes of average ice time through 67 games. That’s likely not strong enough to earn a raise over his $2.67MM cap hit this season. But L.A. seemed to miss his physical presence – and team-leading 211 hits in the regular season – in their first-round loss to the Edmonton Oilers. That could make him a candidate for a low-cost deal as the Kings look to build a team that can run deep into the playoffs.

Other notes out of Los Angeles:

  • Kings captain Anze Kopitar affirmed his desire to play out the final year of his contract next season, per John Hoven of Mayors Manor. It will be Kopitar’s age-38 season. He still looked in prime form this year, netting 21 goals and 67 points. It was his third consecutive season of netting at least 20 goals and 65 points – though he did cross the 70-point mark in the other two. With confirmation of one more season, Kopitar will be on pace to play his 1,500th career game with the Los Angeles Kings – which will make him only the ninth player to play so long with one club, assuming Alex Ovechkin also reaches 1,500 with the Washington Capitals. Kopitar managed nine points and 21:30 in average ice time over the Kings’ six playoff games – and will now return as the Kings’ steady leader next year.
  • Trevor Lewis also expressed his desire to continue his career for another year, per Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period. Lewis will have to find that year on the open market, after the conclusion of a one-year, $800K extension with the Kings. He recorded 12 points in 60 games while operating from a fourth-line role. It was a quiet season that could be hard to market in free agency, though Lewis would become just the sixth King to appear in 15 or more seasons with the club with one more year. It will likely only cost Los Angeles a league-minimum contract to honor that milestone, if they choose to do so.
  • Bernstein also shared that he believes Marc Bergevin could be in the race for the Kings vacant general manager role. Los Angeles hired Bergevin as a special advisor soon after the Montreal Canadiens fired him from his general manager role in 2021. Bergevin served 10 years managing the Canadiens before then. He led the team to six playoff appearances and one Stanley Cup Final loss in 2022. Bergevin wasn’t a stranger to controversy over his time in Montreal, whether it be for his management decisions or personality clashes. But with four years of adjusting to the Kings’ innerworkings, and a decade of experience, his resume for the role could be pretty strong against what Los Angeles could find on the open market.

Jack Eichel, Anže Kopitar, Brayden Point Named Lady Byng Trophy Finalists

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Now that award season is approaching, the NHL has announced the three finalists for the Lady Byng Trophy: Jack Eichel of the Vegas Golden Knights, Anže Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings, and Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

As one of the more underappreciated honors, the Lady Byng Trophy is awarded to the player voted best to combine sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct, and ability as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Kopitar is the only one of the trio to have won the award previously.

In arguably the best season of his career from an individual perspective, Eichel led the Pacific Division champion Golden Knights in scoring with 28 goals and 94 points in 77 games. Not only did Eichel have a career year himself, but he also set a new standard for Vegas players by besting William Karlsson’s 78-point 2017-18 season, which stood as the franchise’s single-season record until now. This was largely due to his availability, missing only five games all season and only accruing eight PIMs.

As mentioned earlier, Kopitar is the only member of the trio who has previously won the Lady Byng Trophy, receiving the award in the 2015-16 and 2022-23 seasons. He outperformed his Pacific Division rival, Eichel, by only taking two minor penalties compared to Eichel’s four. Surpassing Dustin Brown as the longest-serving captain in Kings history this season, Kopitar helped Los Angeles reach the postseason for the fourth consecutive year.

Point became a finalist for the second time in three years, and for good reason. Point bested a point-per-game average for a third consecutive season and centered one of the most efficient top lines in the game. Beating Kopitar and Eichel, Point only had one minor penalty this year (and finished with seven PIMs).

Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.

Afternoon Notes: Shattenkirk, Dobson, Kopitar, Sharpe

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Boston Bruins defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has been fined $2,734.38 for unsportsmanlike conduct in last night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins (Twitter link). It is the maximum allowable fine under the collective bargaining agreement. Shattenkirk earned the fine when he reached over the bench and slashed Bunting on the wrist as he was skating by, after Bunting tripped Linus Ullmark. Shattenkirk wasn’t assessed a penalty during the game and went on to score Boston’s third goal in their eventual 6-4 victory.

This is just the second run-in Shattenkirk has had with the Department of Player Safety in his 950 career games, with his last punishment being a two-game suspension for charging Los Angeles Kings defenseman Kevin Gravel in March of 2017.

Shattenkirk has managed four points across his last five games, heating up at the perfect time. Boston will be glad he avoided suspension, as they chase the top spot in the Atlantic Division with two games left in the season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The New York Islanders may need to finish their season without top defender Noah Dobson, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury per head coach Patrick Roy and Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link). Roy also shared that forward Kyle MacLean felt sick after practice, though he’s still expected to play tomorrow. The Islanders have two games remaining in their season, and could technically still lose their playoff spot – if they drop both games and both the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals win-out. Robert Bortuzzo will step back into the lineup in Dobson’s absence.
  • Los Angeles Kopitar captain Anze Kopitar missed the team’s practice once again, remaining day-to-day with an undisclosed injury that held him out of the team’s Saturday night win over the Anaheim Ducks, per Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider (Twitter link). Dooley adds that the team doesn’t seem concerned about Kopitar’s availability. That’s certainly good news, with the future Hall of Famer certain to be a main factor in their postseason success, after posting 26 goals and 70 points in 79 games this season. The Kings opted to ice seven defensemen in Kopitar’s absence, returning Jacob Moverare to the lineup. They could continue that approach in their final two games of the season, though Arthur Kaliyev is their extra forward should they want to ice four full lines.
  • The Toronto Marlies have signed defenseman Chas Sharpe to a two-year, minor-league contract set to begin in 2024-25 (Twitter link). Sharpe, 20, joins the team as an undrafted free-agent, having spent the last four seasons with the Mississauga Steelheads. He recorded 19 goals and 53 points in 67 games this season, and served as Mississauga’s captain.

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