Anze Kopitar Re-Signs With LA Kings For 8 Years, $80 Million

By Jeff Duarte
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Updated: January 17, 2016

28 year old Slovenian superstar Anze Kopitar has re-signed an 8 year, $80 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings. “Kopi’s” contract will carry an Annual Average Value (AAV) of $10 million, just behind Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks at $10.5M each. As per Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times, the actual yearly payments are,

The money for Kopitar : 14M, 13M, 12M, 11M, 8M, 8M, 7M, 7M…

— lisa dillman (@reallisa) January 16, 2016

The first four years have a strict “No Movement Clause” and the last four have a limited 7 teams of Kopitar’s choosing “NMC.” Kopitar will also receive a $9 million signing bonus on July 1st, (which would have been when “Kopi” became an unrestricted free agent) and another $9 million sometime in the summer of 2017. These bonuses don’t count on the cap.

A key contributor to the Kings winning the Stanley Cup twice in 3 seasons, “Kopi” led both the 2012 and 2014 Cup campaigns with 20 points (tied with Captain Dustin Brown), and 26 points. Kopitar has also led the Kings in points during the regular season for the last 8 years and leads the Kings again this season with 36 points. As mentioned by Ryan Cowley of MakeWayForTheKings.Net, “Kopi” is second behind some player named Sidney Crosby for total points with 645 from players selected from the 2005 NHL entry draft.

The finalization of securing a player of elite caliber like Kopitar during his prime years is the smartest move that general manager Dean Lombardi could have made, despite the yearly $10 million salary cap hit. Losing Kopitar would have been a disaster for the Kings that would have lessened their chances of winning another Stanley Cup (or 5). In other words, there is no one in the NHL, the KHL or the junior leagues that could have suitably or successfully replaced Kopitar and all that he provides in his stellar 200 foot game, hockey intelligence and size. A winner since his first NHL game when he scored 2 goals back in 2006, Kopitar is a generational player of such quality that most teams have to wait decades for to possess.

Here’s to 8 more years of King “Kopi” that “The Great One” himself, Wayne Gretzky dubbed the third best player in the world behind Crosby and Toews. Considering how Sid “The Kid” is playing these days, I’m thinking “Kopi” is now higher on that “Best of” list of the elite.

GO KINGS GO!!!

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