Anze Kopitar and the LA Kings at Crossroads in 2015-16 After Last Year's Flop

DENVER — Anze Kopitar reacts to the question as if politely asking the waiter to send back the steak that is a little undercooked. 

The question: "Some might argue the reason why management may be playing a little hardball with you over contract negotiations is to make you a little more desperate, to make you earn it with a 'prove-it-one-more-time-to-us' season in the final year of your current deal. Your reaction?"

After a couple of seconds to digest the question, Kopitar makes a scrunchy face and sends it back.

"I don't need any extra motivation, just because of my contract," Kopitar told Bleacher Report before a preseason game against Colorado at the Pepsi Center. "I always want to just play and do the very best that I can. But we'll see, I guess, how things pan out. Is it going to get done or when is it going to get done? We'll see. I'm definitely in no rush and not really thinking about it either, because I still have a little bit of time."

As the start to the NHL regular season gets down to single digits in days, the question of whether Kopitar would sign an extension before this, the final year of a seven-year, $47.6 million deal signed in 2009, continued to be a big topic around a team hoping to prove itself once again after missing the playoffs following a Stanley Cup season.

As much as it might pain player and team to admit, they both have something to prove this season.

If Kopitar had only signed a five-year deal in 2009, he might be the highest-paid player in the league right now. If the final year of his deal had expired following the 2014 playoffs, in which he posted 26 points in 26 games as the Kings won their second Cup in three years, Kopitar no doubt would be collecting paychecks of the kind Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane get now: $10.5 million each for many years to come. 

But then the 2014-15 season happened and when it was over, the Kings were a non-playoff team, and Kopitar saw drops in statistics across the board. Some seemed minor—a drop in points from 70 to 64, with three fewer games played—while others seemed major—a drop in goals from 29 to 16 and a plus-minus that went from plus-34 to minus-2.

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Kopitar, through his Beverly Hills-based agent, Pat Brisson, expressed a desire to sign an extension with the Kings before this season. Kopitar is 28 and therefore in the firmament of being worthy of one more long contract. Trouble is, on Sept. 1, Kings general manager Dean Lombardi dropped something of a bombshell to the Kings' in-house website writer, Jon Rosen. The Kings and Kopitar, Lombardi said, were "not even in the ballpark" on a new deal. 

A negotiating ploy? Maybe, but as of Tuesday, there was still no deal between Kopitar and the Kings. Lombardi, a self-made man who put himself through law school, has a longstanding reputation for telling it like it really is. So, this very well could be a situation in which Lombardi needs to have it proven to him one more time before he asks owner Phil Anschutz for a blank check.

Could that create enough ill will for a guy who already has proven to be a two-time Cup champion, team leader and pillar of the community to walk away unrestricted after this season? Maybe. The Kings are the only organization Kopitar has ever known, but the pride in his voice, the slight offense taken to having his motivations questioned, make it clear he feels he has proven himself enough to the Kings to warrant a max contract.

If there is extra confidence to Kopitar's tone that this could be a big year for him and the Kings, it no doubt centers on this being a year of extra motivation for everyone. Not only did the Kings miss the playoffs, they saw veterans Slava Voynov, Mike Richards and Jarret Stoll exit the team over off-ice problems. 

Asked if he took the issues personally as a leader of the team and would seek an elevated role in the dressing room, even though Dustin Brown is the captain, Kopitar said: "I may be a little more vocal once in a while, but I don't really think my leadership role is going to change that much. I think this locker room has been together a long time, and we don't have too many new guys coming in, so I think everybody's been doing their part so far and if we keep doing that, I think we'll be just fine."

If Kopitar wants to attain the status of a Jonathan Toews, he probably will truly have to take more control of the dressing room, beyond mere platitudes. The fact is, the Kings' off-ice problems were more than just a fluke, having come in triplet. It may not be fair, but Kopitar has to take a more involved role in the room if the Kings are to overcome the seriousness of the problem.

If Kopitar really wants to make the Kings "his" team and be the face of the franchise, there is no better opportunity than now. Especially, if he wants the really big bucks.

Lombardi certainly took the off-ice issues personally, hiring Brantt Myhres, a recovering drug and alcohol addict, as a liaison between players and management when it comes to staying out of trouble away from the rink. He also announced a partnership with L.A.-based Peace Over Violence and told the Los Angeles Times he expects fruition from his action:

"

It's just like part of your training staff. It is the type of relationship building, I envision, we're going to be OK. Anybody who thinks this is [only] a Kings problem, keep your head in the sand.

Again, only through difficulty, you get innovation. Stop being stagnant. This kick in the butt … sometimes it can be the best thing for you. I think we're going to get ahead of the curve.

"

For a guy who wants to be thought of in the same terms as a Toews, failing to lead his team into the playoffs made for a rough—but motivating—summer for Kopitar. But he admits having more time off hurt at first but might have been great for the body and mind in the end.

"I feel a lot better. It's one of those things where, if you have a shortened summer, you don't really have time to relax and rest the body," Kopitar said. "It definitely wasn't fun missing the playoffs, but at the same time it did good for a bunch of guys, to rest and recharge and really get their offseason treatment going. I wouldn't say things came easy for us, but winning was part of our culture, so when we didn't get a chance to play for the Cup again last year, it was definitely a sour taste. It's going to help motivate a little bit more this time around. But obviously, we have to use that to our advantage."

The betting line, as the Kings headed to Las Vegas for their preseason finale against Colorado Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, was that the Kings and Kopitar would make peace soon. If Lombardi wants role models for the community, there are none more qualified than the straight-arrow Kopitar, who still dotes on his parents and brother, but also is a father of an infant daughter, Neza. If Lombardi wants guys who show up to the rink every night wanting to win, he already knows what he has in the Slovenian center, who has 610 points in 683 career games as a King.

Kings coach Darryl Sutter said he spends little time worrying about Kopitar.

"He competes every shift. That's all I ever ask," Sutter said. 

Adrian Dater covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him @Adater