Anze Kopitar, Kings Agree to 2-Year Contract Extension with $7M AAV

Anze Kopitar, who has spent 17 seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, is ready for three more.

The 35-year-old veteran signed a two-year, $14 million contract extension that will lock him in with Los Angeles through the 2025-26 season, the Kings announced Thursday.

Kopitar, who helped lead the franchise to Stanley Cup wins in 2012 and 2014, has served as the team's captain since 2016.

He led the Kings last season with 74 points, joining Hall of Famer Gordie Howe as the only players in NHL history to lead the same team in scoring at least 15 times.

The eight-year, $10-million AAV contract Kopitar signed with Los Angeles in 2016 was set to expire at the end of next season.

Rob Blake, Kings vice president and general manager, called Kopitar "the heart and soul of this team" in a statement on the $7 million AAV extension.

"He will continue to play a major role on our club," Blake said.

Kopitar was selected by the Kings with the No. 11 pick of the 2005 draft and has played 1,292 games for them since, leaving him just seven contests back of tying Dustin Brown for the all-time franchise lead.

He ranks fourth all-time in Kings franchise history with 393 career goals, including 65 game-winners (second all-time) and 13 shorthanded tallies (fifth all-time.) He also sits second on Los Angeles leaderboards with 748 career assists, and third with 1,1141 points.

The Kings captain has not exceeded 20 penalty minutes in a season since 2018-19, and won his second Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2023 after compiling an NHL-low four PIM through 82 games.

Additionally, Kopitar has also recorded 24 goals and 53 assists for 77 points in 92 postseason games, trailing only Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille for the all-time franchise lead. He led the playoffs in scoring during each of the franchise's Stanley Cup wins.

Kopitar will join Drew Doughty, who after inking an eight-year deal in 2018 is signed with the Kings through the 2026-27 campaign, as the last remaining core members of the team's championships.

Considering that Kopitar and Doughty led the 2022-23 team in ice time for forwards and defensemen, respectively, the two veterans will continue to be a critical part of Los Angeles' playoff hopes next season, ten years after they last led the Kings to a Cup.