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Kopitar will go down as a future hall of famer

The Los Angeles Kings just about squeaked into a playoff berth this season with a 35-27-20 record and 90 points as they snatched the last remaining wildcard spot in the west.

However, their season ended in anticlimactic fashion yesterday with a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. It was a lopsided matchup from puck drop as the President’s trophy winning Avalanche had their way with the Kings.

With the first round elimination, that brings an end to the career of legendary Kings forward Anze Kopitar. Yesterday’s game was the last for the 38-year old Slovenian native with him retiring from the game upon conclusion of this season.

Kopitar is a Future Hall of Famer

Kopitar retires with a strong legacy as he made his mark as one of the top two-way players in the NHL throughout his 20 year career, all spent in Los Angeles.

His trophy case includes two Stanley Cup championships (2012, 2014), three Lady Byng’s (2016,2023,2025), two Selke’s (2016, 2018) and one Mark Messier Leadership award (2022). Only Sidney Crosby has produced more than him amongst members of his 2005 draft class.

This past season was a tougher one for Kopitar as he recorded career lows across the board with only 12 goals and 26 assists for 38 points in 67 games. He was also held off the scoresheet in four playoff games as the Avalanche easily shut down his team. But, Kopitar did become the all time leader in Kings franchise history when it comes to scoring this year as he passed Marcel Dionne’s 1,307 points.

There is no doubt that Kopitar is a future hockey hall of famer. He checks all the boxes and will go down as one of the top players in the modern game.

Over the course of his 1,521 game regular season career, Kopitar amassed 452 goals and 864 assists for 1,316 points. In the postseason, he registered 27 goals and 62 assists for 89 points in 107 games.

Kopitar will be Difficult for the Kings to Replace

With Kopitar stepping away from the game, the Kings must now adjust to life without him. The 2026-2027 campaign will be a strange one in Hollywood with no Kopitar on the roster for the first time in two decades.

Perhaps this brings about a changing of the guard in LA as the squad has lacked playoff success in recent times with five consecutive first round exits after this latest ousting by Colorado. Is it time for the Kings to enter a rebuild as they continue to falter down the postseason stretch?

The Kings will also have to find a new captain for Kopitar to pass the leadership torch upon. Does Los Angeles turn to his longtime teammate Drew Doughty for that position? That would appear to be the most logical choice with Doughty now being the last remaining member of the Kings 2010s Stanley Cup runs remaining with Kopitar leaving.

A new era is on the way in Los Angeles with the old guard stepping away making way for the next in line. It will be interesting to see how this organization navigates without the veteran presence of Kopitar in the locker room moving forward.