Adrian Kempe, Kings Reportedly Agree to $85M Contract Extension, Details Revealed

The Los Angeles Kings are bringing back Adrian Kempe for another eight seasons.

Kempe and the Kings have agreed to an 8-year, $85 million extension, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported Sunday. ESPN's Emily Kaplan was first to report the news.

Kempe is in his 10th season with the Kings and is currently in the final year of the four-year, $5.5 million AAV contract he signed with the franchise in 2022.

The 29-year-old received his raise after leading the Kings in points for the last two seasons, most recently posting 73 points (35 goals, 38 assists) in 81 games of the 2024-25 campaign.

Kempe's campaign helped the Kings record 48 wins, the team's highest total since 2016, and earn home-ice advantage for a first-round matchup with the Edmonton Oilers last spring.

That wasn't enough to get the Kings as far as the second round for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014, however.

The team ultimately bowed out in six games to the Oilers, who went on to a second straight Stanley Cup Final.

Through 19 games to start the 2025-26 season, Kempe has notched six goals and 13 assists for 19 points to help the Kings to a 10-5-4 record and the top spot in the Pacific Division.

The Kings will hope re-signing Kempe is the first step to building a team that could survive another potential first-round matchup with the Oilers and make it deeper into the playoffs in the near future.

The news comes after Kings captain Anže Kopitar, who led the team in points 15 times in the 16 seasons leading up to the 2023-24 campaign, announced he will be retiring after the upcoming season.

Kempe, originally selected by the Kings in the first round of the 2014 draft, has broken out as a top goalscorer for the franchise with three 30-goal campaigns over the past four seasons.

With Kopitar preparing to hang up his skates, Kempe could be called on to play a bigger role not only as a goalscorer but as a leader in the Kings' locker room going forward.