THE GOAT OF THE L.A. KINGS

LOS ANGELES, CA — If my research is correct, 716 players have worn a Los Angeles Kings uniform since the franchise’s inaugural 1967-68 season. Last Thursday, the greatest King, Anze Kopitar, made it official that the 2025-26 season will be his last in the National Hockey League.

Kopitar is about to commence his 20th season in a Kings uniform and will retire as a one-franchise athlete, a rarity in current days professional sports.

Although many exceptional players have worn Kings colors, including Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, current team President Luc Robitialle, Marcel Dionne, recently retired teammate Dustin Brown, current teammate Drew Doughty and former running mate Jonathan Quick, no player has provided more impact to the franchise than the native of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

His body of work on the ice made him both a hero in his home country and two decades of Kings fans. In addition to team success as a two-time Stanley Cup winner, his individual achievements include two Selke Awards (awarded to the best defensive forward in the NHL), three Lady Byng Awards (awarded to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability) and a Mark Messier Leadership Award. Only Kopitar and Detroit Red Wings Hall of Famer Pavel Datsyuk have received that level of Selke and Byng achievement.

What makes Kopitar the greatest King to don a Los Angeles uniform is equivalent to what makes a championship team, his whole is greater than the sum of his parts.

His best statistical season (92 points) equaled Gretzky’s fifth best season as a King. His highest goal total (35 goals) was eclipsed 11 times by Robitaille. His performances in the playoffs were solid but not dominant as Quick or Justin Williams (the Conn Smythe winners in 2012 and 2014).

What places Kopitar at the top of the list the entire package – his longevity, his ability to stay relatively injury free after a serious injury in the 2010-11 season and his hockey IQ (never the fleetest of foot but rarely at a disadvantage defensively) makes him the most complete 200-foot player in franchise history.

The timing of the announcement creates a unique opportunity for all hockey fans to enjoy his virtuosity for another 82+ games. Unlike his running mate Brown, announcing his decision at the open of training camp eliminates the questions of continuing – even a long playoff run this season will not change his mind and allows his fans to embrace his last season as the days to his NHL career winds down.

He gave clarity to the timing of his decision, I assumed that when he signed a two-year extension two summers ago, he would not play past this coming season and any speculation of a 21st season in Los Angeles would be just that. He related that the door had been open for continuing but towards the end of last season, the final decision was made.

There will be ample time for praise for this iconic athlete – a more formal press conference at season end and the obligatory jersey retirement during the 2026-27 season. At that point, there’s more to tell about a player and person I’ve got to know very well. For now, all should enjoy him playing in a season that will see him play in his 1,500th game for the franchise and setting the team record for points when he registers his 30th point while trying to capture his third Stanley Cup.

A MARGIN CALL

The Kings opened training camp for the 2025-26 NHL season with the same core that tasted a bitter post-season defeat to the Edmonton Oilers for the fourth consecutive season. Despite equaling the franchise record for standing points in a season (105) and holding a commanding two games to none lead in the Stanley Cup Playoffs opening round, the franchise once again failed to capture a playoff round for the first time since winning its second Stanley Cup in 2014.

The most recent loss spurred significant if not substantial change in the organization with the biggest being the departure of General Manager Rob Blake, who failed to reach the level of success his predecessor Dean Lombardi achieved but did a fair job rebuilding the Kings from the Lombardi-Darryl Sutter era. The last four seasons produced an average of almost 102 standing points and four consecutive top three finishes in the Pacific Division but when from comes to the postseason, finish is what has eluded Los Angeles.

As to why the team can’t get over the line when it comes to the playoffs, you can point out several reasons:

Is it fatigue? Is it coaching? Is it getting an unlucky draw to face an Edmonton team that went to the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive seasons and the Western Conference three of the last four seasons?

The length of the postseason failure signifies it is more than a singular cause that produces early summer vacations for Los Angeles.

Last spring, the Kings team that reached Game 6 in Edmonton was spent. After jumping out to the two-game lead at home which instilled confidence that their playoff dragons would finally be vanquished, the two excruciating losses in Edmonton saw them return to Los Angeles a beaten and exhausted squad. Though they lost an essentially one-goal Game 5, they were dominated for 60 minutes and while they put up a better fight in the elimination Game 6, the overall result did not change. One advanced statistic supports the fatigue factor – after surrendering an average of 11 high danger chances in Games 1 and 2, Edmonton totaled 83 high danger chances (an average of 20.75 per game) in its four straight wins.

Fatigue increased as a result of Head Coach Jim Hiller's player deployment decisions in Games 3 and 4; this issue was later addressed by his new boss during the off-season. In the big picture, Hiller had a strong 84 games and a challenging final four. While most critics focused on the ill-fated coach’s challenge that turned Game 3, his lack of utilization of his fourth forward line and third pair defenders with a comfortable series lead was an equal contributor to the defeat.

But neither fatigue nor coaching impacted a third factor, one needed to win any playoff round, not just against the Oilers.

When Edmonton needed to raise their level after Games 1 and 2 in Los Angeles, they did so. When a big play in a big spot was needed, whether it was Evander Kane’s goalmouth battle to tie Game 3 to turn the series tide or Evan Bouchard tying Game 4 inside of 30 seconds remaining of regulation, Los Angeles could not match them either individually or as a group – a key goal, a defensive stop or heroic performance in net could not be summoned.

On the first day of training camp, the bitter taste of defeat lingered for some throughout the summer and into September. While Byfield said once the summer started, he was past contemplating his decision in the final minute of Game 4 that could have changed the outcome of not just the game but the entire series, but Hiller admitted that the loss still stings when it comes to mind.

Doughty seems to have returned to the Doughty I knew after the most difficult season of his career, his rehab from his preseason ankle injury went very well and he believes his health is close to being as good as it was before the injury. After a second procedure was done immediately after the season, weeks of rest was a friend (and real rest, no golfing or going out with the boys for eight weeks) and he feels he can get back to the level of the 2023-24 season (15 goals, 35 assists).

“I was disappointed,” he said. “Last year at the end of the playoffs was one of the lowest moments as a hockey player in my life. This summer... I want to get back to where I was, and I’m very confident that I will do that player again. I feel so much better on the ice and I'll be back.”

He addressed the significant changes in the defensive corps he heads up as well as the signing of his frenemy, Corey Perry. In both cases, he stressed the importance of having players who are playoff-tested and that makes him optimistic coming into his 18th season.

“Losing (Vlad Gavrikov), obviously a great player (was tough), but we got two really, really good veteran players; Stanley Cup winners (Dumoulin twice in Pittsburgh, Perry in Anaheim), which we didn’t have before,” he said. “And now we have three defense pairs that are just solid, and they’re going to play lots of hockey. We don’t have to overplay the top two pairs. I really like our defense corps, it looks really sharp.

“I know Perry for a long time, lots of battles and rivalries against him, that guy’s a gamer. He’s one of those special players that you hate playing against and you want on your team. He’s going to do anything for the team, a team guy first and a big game player, we need big game players. Just everything you could want in an NHL player, he won a Cup, has been in a lot of Finals and is going to help the young guys. There’s not enough good things I can say.”

The team has optimism that this group of Kings can break the streak of recent playoff failures but there’s no prediction of a Stanley Cup win coming out of their dressing room, either.

For a team that averaged over 100 standings points over the last four seasons, there is too much uncertainty about its standing as a serious Stanley Cup contender as the season opens. Even if they were to vanquish their Edmonton playoff tormentors, is this team good enough to beat the other powers in the Western Conference?

Critics of Holland’s off-season have noted the team getting older and slower with the additional veterans combined with the inability to add another impact player which may result in regression. Those like Doughty, who applaud the moves point to the inability to make game-winning decisions in the post-season, and add a full season of Andrei Kuzmenko playing in a contract season serves as the impact add.

If there is failure this season like previous ones, it won’t be due to the additions, but Holland’s assessment of how far Los Angeles was and is from contention.